THE 



MEDITERRANEAN 



A MEMOIR 



PHYSICAL HISTORICAL AND NAUTICAL 



BY 



REAK-ADMIEAL WILLIAM HENEY SMYTH, K.S.F., D.C.L., 

ONE OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY ; 

SOME TIME 

FOREIGN SECRETARY AND VICE-PRESIDENT OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 

VICE-PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, PRESIDENT OF 

THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 

PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, 

AND VICE-PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION 

OF LONDON: 

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE; 

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY; AND OF THE SCIENTIFIC ACADEMIES 

OF NAPLES, PALERMO, FLORENCE, BOSTON, WASHINGTON, 

AND NEW YORK. 




LONDON 
JOHN W. PARKER AND SON 

MDCCCL1V 



N\ 



454 



j} e> i 3 



/ 




TO 

// 

REAR-ADMIRAL SIR FRANCIS BEAUFORT, K.C.B. 

F.R.S., F.G.S., F.R.A.S., ETC. 
HYDROGRAPHER TO THE ADMIRALTY. 



St. John's Lodge, near Aylesbury, 
Jan. 2Mh t 1854. 

My dear Beaufort, 

I KNOW not to whom I could in any case have addressed 
my hydrographical treatise so appropriately as to you, who have so 
long and ably presided over the surveying department of the navy. 
But nearly half a century of professional acquaintance, including 
thirty years of intimate friendship, with the knowledge of you which 
they have given as a man, a seaman, and an officer, leave me 
wholly unable to say whether I ought rather to inscribe this work 
to you as a public compliment, or as a mark of private regard. 
To you, then, I submit the present exposition of the state of our 
knowledge of the Mediterranean Sea at the time of my return to 
England in the close of the year 1824; only regretting, on various 
counts connected therewith, that you were not holding office at 
that period. 

This work, as you are aware, has long been meditated, but has 
' hung fire' for the completion of the surveys in the Archipelago, so 
that it might only just precede a complete Sailing-Directory for 
the whole Inner Sea. The unexpected breaking off of Captain 
Graves, however, towards the very close of those operations, and 

b 



vi DEDICATION. 

their consequent suspension, determined me to proceed with my 
part at once. For this and two or three other reasons, together 
with the loss occasioned by the destructive conflagration of the 
printing-office of Messrs. Savill and Edwards, the book is later 
in its publication than was intended. Still the delay has been 
of no actual detriment to the Service, since my charts — which, 
in fact, are working diagrams of all the labour — have long been 
engraved and circulated by the Admiralty ; while, as you can tes- 
tify, my observations and memoranda have always been accessible 
to inquirers. 

The undertaking, though heavy, is nevertheless not wanting 
either in interest or importance : the Mediterranean Sea, so secondary 
in extent compared with others, being, per se, of vast surface, with 
many of its characteristics on the grandest scale. Besides, viewing 
it as the actual site where the intellectual culture to which we are 
most directly indebted was first developed, it cannot but be regarded 
for its portentous historical occurrences ; nor will a sailor forget 
that it is the sea whereon the fleets of Carthage, Greece, and Rome 
contended in former days, and those of Spain, France, Italy, and 
England in later times. ' The grand object of travelling/ said 
Dr. Johnson to General Paoli, ' is to see the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean. On those shores were the four great empires of the world ; 
the Assyrian, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman. All our 
religion, almost all our arts, almost all that sets us above savages, 
has come to us from the shores of the Mediterranean/ 

It might appear strange that a coast of such paramount interest 
should still have required surveying in the present day; but the 
following pages may, in part, account for the necessity. To what 
is hereinafter mentioned, it may be prefaced, that useful knowledge 
has recently spread as largely over the waters as upon land ; much 



DEDICATION. vii 

of which must be ascribed to sundry of its older trammels being 
thrown overboard, and much to the progressive improvement which 
time naturally and surely creates. Since you and I first dabbled 
in these matters, a vast stride has been made in hydrography; and 
the results are seen in more efficient instruments, better astrono- 
mical tables, sounder nautical directions, and more correct charts. 
Instead of a Lunarian being a l rara avis' in our ships, as of erst, 
there is now a very host of them afloat; and chronometers, then so 
scarce, are at present to be found in every ship of consideration. 
Meantime, the various branches of available science have been so 
steadily advancing among seamen of all nations, that besides a 
higher practice in mechanical navigation, they possess a more 
accurate information respecting the phenomena of winds and 
oceanic currents than heretofore. Already the elements are nearly 
reduced to subjection by the union of science and practical seaman- 
ship, so that sea-passages are wonderfully shortened within memory ; 
and these beneficial effects are on the eve of being strengthened in 
utility by a systematic arrangement and impartial discussion of 
connected facts, as proposed by the energetic Lieut. Maury, of the 
United States Navy. In a word, although incompetence may 
sometimes appear in the van, to the serious detriment of the public 
interests and character, the true place and substantial advantage 
of real talent is fast gaining recognition; whence it must follow 
that inchoate notions, and arbitrary assumptions, will inevitably 
succumb to experienced skill, and the logical reasonings of 
induction. 

It would be deeply important to our knowledge of the terrestrial 
attributes of our globe, were the profundity, form, and physical 
nature of the ocean ascertained; but an enormous amount of 
labour and money must be consumed, before positive conclusions 



vni DEDICATION. 

can possibly be arrived at over such an immensity. Indeed, a 
complete oceanic survey may be beyond human power ; but, to the 
best of my opinion, a sub-aqueous map of the Mediterranean is 
within our compass. Towards an object so truly valuable to 
science, the following pages, it is hoped, may prove a trustworthy 
pioneer ; albeit my inquiries were mainly directed to our maritime 
requirements in 1810, the date of my commencing operations in 
that sea. Still, in conducting examinations and gathering every 
information in my power, neither toil, responsibility, nor personal 
expense, were ever spared by 

Your truly attached friend, 




CONTENTS. 



Pakt I. 

A Chorographical Yiew of the Shores of the Mediterranean 
Sea, with especial reference to their Produce and Com- 
merce. 



Introductory matter . . 
The Snores of Spain . . 
t The Spanish Islands . . 
The Coast of France . . 
The Coast of Western Italy 
Of the Italian Islands . . 
The Adriatic Sea ... 



10 
13 

17 
28 
34 



The Shores and Islands of West- 
ern Greece 48 

The Archipelago, Black Sea, and 
Levant 61 

The North Coast of Africa . . 83 

Statistics of the British Depen- 
dencies ... . , . . . 100 



Part II. 

Of the Currents, Tides, and Waters of the 
Mediterranean Sea. 



Preliminary matter 104 

Volcanic Zone 106 

Physical speculations . . . .113 
Divisions and sub-divisions . . 123 

Temperature 124 

Colour 125 

Luminosity 126 

Component substances detected 127 
Specific Gravity 131 



Adventure Bank 136 

Extent of the Mediterranean 

Sea 139 

Supply 140 

Fluvial system 143 

Evaporation 145 

On the Currents 151 

On the Tides . • 171 

Ichthyology 192 



CONTENTS. 



Part III. 



Of the Mediterranean Winds, Weather, and 
Atmospherical Phenomena. 



On the Climate and Meteorology 210 
On the author's Registers . . 212 
Barometer and Thermometer . 216 

Rain 217 

Probable degree of Change in 

Climate 223 

Malaria 225 

Winds and Weather . . . .230 



Prognostics 238 

Electric agency 262 

Waterspouts 263 

Compazant 267 

Mirage 288 

Fogs . . ■ 290 

Dew 292 

Damage by Lightning .... 302 



Part IY. 

Of the Surveys and Geographical Investigations in the 
Mediterranean Sea. 

In the early ages 310 

Classic Surveys 314 

Ptolemy's grave error .... 321 



Comparison of ancient points . 325 

In the Middle Ages 325 

The Arabians .326 

The Venetians 328 

Early Portolani 329 



marked therein, and 

since omitted 332 

Modern operations 336 

The author's surveys .... 353 

Captain Gauttier 359 

The Adriatic survey .... 363 
Officers of the Aid 'dud. Adventure 375 

Course pursued 380 

Catalogue of the Charts . . . 394 



Part V. 
Of the Orthography and Nomenclature adopted ; the Geo- 
graphical Points — or Co-ordinates of Latitude, Longi- 
tude, and Height — of the Mediterranean Shores; with 
the Variation of the Magnetic Needle, and other Notanda. 

He-measurement of the arc be- 
tween Palermo and Malta . . 420 
Daussy's examination of the 

question 421 

Dip of the horizon 426 

On the Use of Symbols . . .427 

On Abbreviations 428 

Simple Symbols 430 



Prefatory matter 406 

Causes of change in Greek 

names 410 

Orthography of Arabian names . 414 
Arrangement of the tabulated 

points 416 

On the normal position of 

Palermo Observatory . . . 417 



CONTENTS. xi 

Appendix. 

I. The opening of a Road into central Africa 473 

II. On Graham Island 498 



The Index 501 



ERRATA. 

The reader is earnestly requested to correct, with his pen, the following 
oversights of the press. 

46, line 20, for ' Chinuera,' read 'Chimera.' 

47, last line of the note, for 'futile' read ' fictile' fragments. 
67, line 10 db imo, for 'Psitoriti,' read 'Psiloriti.' 

92, last line, for ' 1820,' read ' 1821.' 
149, after line 22, in the heading of the last column of the table, for cubic 

' inches,' read ' miles. ' 
218, line 2 db imo, Brewster's formula, insert x before cos. lat. 
375, for Assistant-Surgeon ' Beg,' read ' Begg.' 
396, No. XIV., for Port ' Cross,' read Port ' Cros.' 



THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, 



PiART I. 

A CHOROGRAPHICAL VIEW OF THE SHORES OF THE 
MEDITERRANEAN SEA, WITH ESPECIAL REFER- 
ENCE TO THEIR PRODUCE AND COMMERCE. 



§ 1. The Mediterranean Shores of Spain. 

THE Mediterranean Sea, equally remarkable from its 
position in the midst of the most civilized nations, 
and its connexion with many memorable events in ancient 
and modern history, is that vast central gulf emphatically 
styled in the Sacred Scriptures the Great Sea ; justly 
receiving that appellation, as being the largest assemblage 
of waters known to the earliest writers of those records : 
and indeed its importance was truly paramount among the 
ancients, as it was the grand key to both portions of the then 
known world. 

By the word Mediterranean, or midland, we understand 
water enclosed either wholly or nearly by land ; but the 
term was not applied to this sea by any classical writer. 
The ancient Greeks seem to have had no general name for 
it, — Herodotus merely calls it ' this sea/ and Strabo the 
' sea within the columns/ that is, within Calpe and Abyla. 
By their present descendants it is called Aspri Thalassa 
("Ao-Trp Qakao<ra) the White Sea, to distinguish it from 
the Euxine, which they call Mavri Thalassa (Maupw 
QoiXouro-a) the Black Sea. It was gradually designated the 
Grecian Sea, and then the Mare internum; while Mela 
terms it mare nostrum. Though some of the Arabians 
described it as the Green Sea, it was Bahr-Rum, the 

B 



Mediterra- 
nean Sea. 



2 MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 

Greek or Roman Sea, with most of them ; among our own 
seamen it has long been specialized as the Straits. Geo- 
graphically speaking, however, the term Mediterranean is 
now more strictly applied to the whole expanse between 
the South of Europe, Asia Minor, and the north coast 
of Africa; extending from the Straits of Gibraltar to the 
shores of Syria, including the Sea of Marmora, the Euxine, 
and the Palus Maeotis. It is separated from the Red Sea 
by the Isthmus of Suez ; from the Atlantic Ocean, though 
their waters unite, by the Strait of Gibraltar, and commu- 
nicates with the Black Sea by the Dardanelles and the 
Canal of Constantinople. 

The political and social events which have occurred on 
the shores of this remarkable part of the ocean, are closely 
connected with the history of almost every country in the 
world ; but independently of its classical and historical asso- 
ciations, the Mediterranean still confers invaluable advan- 
tages upon the numerous occupiers of its coasts, and through 
them on the interior of the surrounding continents. It is 
moreover the great bond of intercourse between the nations 
of Europe, Asia, and Africa, although it appears as if it had 
been destined to keep them asunder. Beautifully diversified 
with islands, and bounded by almost every variety of soil, 
its products are proportionally various ; and from its com- 
munication with the Atlantic, it facilitates commerce with 
every part of the globe. Here navigation made its earliest 
efforts ; and the comparative shortness of the distances 
between port and port, by rendering the transit easy, even 
to imperfect vessels, tended to promote and diffuse civili- 
zation, it being an unquestionable axiom, that whatever 
is calculated to make men better acquainted with each 
other, whether the inhabitants of distant lands or neigh- 
bours, must inevitably produce beneficial results for the 
whole. But though commerce is and has been both vast 
and various in this sea, its energies cannot be said to have 
attained their full development, clogged as they have been 



MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 3 

by impolitic curbs and impositions ; nevertheless under 
numerous vexatious restrictions, direct employment and 
subsistence are still afforded to many hundred thousands of 
those people who have access to its shores. 

Our ancestors had acquired some acquaintance with Medieval 
Mediterranean traffic as early as the time of the Crusades ; 
but like all other nations of Europe at that period, they were 
ignorant of the principles of commerce, as well as destitute 
of the capital by which it is made steady and lucrative. 
In the 12th year of Henry VII. (1497), as shown by an act 
of Parliament, our goods were exported to Genoa and 
Venice, yet they seem to have been carried entirely by 
foreign ships and traders ; the argosies of Shakspeare being 
Ragusan vessels. According to Hakluyt, our first trade of 
moment with this sea, in English bottoms, began in 1511, 
just before the Turks obtained possession of Chios, to 
which port our vessels traded, and where, two years after- 
wards, a consul* was appointed to superintend our interests. 
The year 1550 found the tall ships of our merchant adven- 
turers carrying on a commerce with Sicily, Candia, Cyprus, 
and Syria; by which the germs of the Levant Company 
were matured. 

Sailing from England, the first Mediterranean feature Spain, 
the voyager falls in with is Spain (Iberia), a country of 
proud recollections and interesting story. But the political 
events of the last half century have severed her colonies, 
destroyed her fleets, and irretrievably damaged her com- 
merce. Still her national character for persevering effort in 
warfare is remarkable, whether shown in her struggles, as 
with the Saracens and in the succession campaigns, or in the 
arduous contentions which have taken place on her own soil, as 
those between Rome and Carthage, or those in which she took 
part when overrun by the armies of France, and occupied by 
her English allies. Yet her formidable barrier on the north, 



* It is therefore erroneous to call John Tipton, who was appointed to 
Algiers in 1581, the first English Mediterranean consul. 

B 2 



4 MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 

her being posited as it were between Europe and Africa, and 
her station between two seas, would show that nature intend- 
ed that Spain should remain integral, extend commerce, and 
facilitate intercourse with other nations. Still the enormous 
chains of mountains which traverse the peninsula, and a want 
of navigable rivers, added to a host of moral causes, have been 
serious obstacles to her prosperity. Spain indeed, as Wilson 
shows in his History of Mountains, may be considered to be 
composed of a series of elevation-terraces, which, projecting 
successively their rugged edges towards the south, present 
a flight of gigantic steps from the Pyrenees to the Strait 
of Gibraltar, and from the Rock of Lisbon on the Atlantic 
shore to Cape Creux on the Mediterranean. 
Gibraltar. The northern shores of the Strait of Gibraltar, after 

passing Cadiz (Gadir) and Cape Trafalgar,* are marked 
by the isle of Tarifa — the southernmost point of Europe — 
and the fortified rock of Gibraltar (Calpe), which is a vast 
body of limestone of the oolitic period, elevated 1430 feet 
above the level of the sea, with a handsome free-port town 
at its base. This peninsular mass — about two miles and a 
quarter long by nearly three quarters of a mile broad, with 
a circuit of between four and five miles — is joined to the 
continent by a low sandy neck, which towards the Medi- 
terranean has an elevation of several feet above its opposite 
side abutting on the bay, an effect occasioned by the strong 
Levant winds and waves along what is termed Back-strap 
Bay. Here a fair system of government, full toleration in 
worship, and the prosperous results of an open free port, 
together with the energy and taste of its English residents, 
have made an otherwise barren and burning rock a scene 
of commercial activity and luxurious abode; but as such 
minute circumstances are hardly admissible in so cursory a 
glance as this, we must hurry onwards, especially because the 



* Between Cape Trafalgar and Tarifa, and near Bolonia tower, are the 
ruins of Bcdon; this was the ancient place of embarkation for Tangier 
(Tingis), in Africa, apparently to avoid being set through the Strait by the 
current, which might happen more to the east. 



MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 5 

statistical details of Gibraltar, as a British colony, will be 
found at the close of the present chapter. To the south, 
this important ocean-strait is bounded by that part of the 
coast of Africa which extends from Cape Spartel to the 
fortress of Ceuta; and between those two points lie the 
port of Tangier and the lofty cliffs of the Sierra Bullones, 
or Ape's Hill. Here it is fabled that Hercules set up the 
pillars on Calpe and Abyla, to commemorate the extent 
and termination of his territorial conquests ; hence the 
geographical terms Fretum Herculeum, Fretum Gadi- 
taneum, and Columnarium, formerly applied to a spot 
which was long deemed to be the ne plus ultra of navi- 
gation, if not the extremity of the earth. It was called 
Bah-ez-zakak, the Gate of the narrow Passage, by the 
Arabs, then the Gut by our seamen and pilots. Through 
this strait a stream from the Atlantic is continually flowing ; 
but before we speak of the waters of this sea, it will be as 
well to take a rapid view of the lands forming its boundaries. 

The Mediterranean shores of Spain extend about 780 Spanish 

. . ., Coast. 

geographical miles in a north-east direction from Gibraltar 
to Cape Creux, where the French domain commences, and 
present a great variety of plains and mountains bounded 
by a highly fertile though not well-wooded coast, indented by 
numerous harbours and bays. Some of the mountains in 
Catalonia consist of granite, but the prevailing formation of 
the coast is limestone. In Granada, among other mineral 
riches, are many valuable varieties of marble ; at Tortosa 
are the celebrated quarries of jasper; and the hills of 
Becares and Filabres, near Alicant, are reported to be 
entirely composed of a pure white statuary marble. Most 
of the streams descending from the heights are rather 
torrents than rivers, swollen to a great width in the winter 
and spring, yet very low in the summer. Their mouths 
generally form petty trading anchorages for the small 
coasters which carry for the larger and more frequented 
ports. The principal products are corn, maize, rice, wine, produce. 



6 MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 

oil, brandy, olives, wool, salt, alum, kermes, barilla, potash, 
esparto mats and cordage, turpentine, soap, dates, raisins 
and other dried fruit, aniseed, flax, saffron, honey, wool, 
cottonades, cotton, linen, silk, iron, lead, zinc, antimony, 
manganese, copperas, and grana — a species of cochineal. 
Though the materials for commerce are thus numerous 
and valuable, from the mistaken system of restriction so 
long followed by the Spanish government, the prosperity of 
its subjects is not only crippled, but almost annihilated. 
Entering into details, there will be found between Gibraltar 
and Malaga a chain of lofty mountains, parts of which, as 
near Ronda (Acinipo vel Arunda), for example, offer the 
scenery termed by the French les belles horreurs; the country 
is fine, but with various waste and barren spots, nor are there 
many littoral points of note. Estepona and Marbella (Sal- 
duba), are two of the loading places for the coasters alluded 
to above, and Frangerola, a very ancient fortress, is noted for 

Malaga. its anchovy fishery. Malaga (Malacha) itself is a fine large 
city, with striking public buildings ; but its harbour is rapidly 
filling up by the detritus poured in during the freshes of 
the Guad-al-Medina. Between Sacratif, or Carchuna Point, 
and Cape de Gata, and even to Moxacar, the coast is in 
general very high, the only interruptions being at the 
mouths of the small rivers, where are formed playas, or 
triangular plains, from one to several miles in extent, open 
to the sea, and extending to the foot of the mountains, the 
washings of which have formed the rich alluvial soil 
generally found in these plains. 

rorts and Passing the loading places of Almunecar (Menoba), Sala- 

piaces. brena (Salembina), Motril (Hexi), Castel de Ferro, and Adra 
(Abdera) we arrive at Almeria (Murgis), once renowned 
for commercial enterprise, but now merely exporting some 
barilla and lead. To the north-north-east of Cape de Gata 
(Prom. Charidemum) is Carthagena (Carthago nova), 
which, though one of the three royal ports of the kingdom, is 

Carthagena. miserably neglected, and its marine arsenal, constructed at 



MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 7 

a vast expense, is nearly ruined. This is a consequence of 
the inertness of the government, the apathetic dulness of 
the heavy Murcians, and the deleterious miasma of its 
marshes, by which it is subjected to the severe visitations 
of an endemic bilious fever. The whole district was called 
Campus Spartarius, from the abundance of esparto, or 
Spanish-broom, which grew there. Between Carthagena 
and Valencia the coast is generally low and sandy, but 
broken by various loading places and ports, of which the 
most important is Alicant (Lucentum), a commercial town 
situated in the northern extremity of the bay, and at the 
foot of a castled hill. Its vale of Huerta is fertile but un- Alicant. 
wholesome ; few of its cultivators escaping fever or ague, 
not a little assisted by the waters of the vast tank, or rather 
artificial lake, el Pantano. It is, however, the entrepot of 
the productions of Yalencia and Murcia, and its custom- 
house was long the most valuable that the Spanish monarchy 
could boast. Passing Altea, the coves of Cape S. Martin, 
Denia (Dianium), and the River Xucar (Sucro), we arrive 
at the great plain on which the city of Yalencia stands, the 
finest of the whole coast, and so fertile that it is called 
La Huerta, the garden;* but there is no port in the whole Valencia. 
Sucronian Gulf where any shelter is afforded in onshore 
winds, except within the moles of the Grao, at the mouth of 
the Guadalaviar (Turias), nearly three leagues off. Just 
below these moles is the great lake of Albufera, four leagues 
long and two broad, full of fish, and separated from the 
sea by a narrow sandbank. Pestilential exhalations arise 
from many parts of this otherwise beautiful and productive 
plain, but especially in the extensive rice-grounds. Yalencia, 
which has borne its present appellation since the time of 
the Romans, is one of the smallest provinces of Spain, 

It is necessary to keep in mind that a slight difference in this phrase 
makes a great modification of its meaning. La Huerta is a kitchen or 
market-garden, for the growth of vegetables and pot-herbs ; El Huerta is a 
walled fruit-garden, or orchard. Quantities of dates, and etiolated palm- 
branches for festivals, are brought from Elche (llicu). 



8 



MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 



though one of the richest and most populous, from the 
fertility of its soil; but even here — from the languid system 
of husbandry, the extent of waste lands, the want of easy 
communication with the interior, and the irregularities of a 
feeble government — there is no immediate danger of popu- 
lation pressing upon subsistence. In comparison with the 
other Spanish provinces of the Mediterranean shore, its 
numbers are very striking; yet in submitting them it 
should be remembered that by Andalusia is meant what is 
now restricted to the kingdom of Seville ; for in the Middle 
Age statistics that rich and powerful province included 
Seville, Cordova, Granada, Jaen, and the districts of Sierra 
Morena, an extent of 27,550 square miles, comprehending 
a space so beautiful and delicious, that the Moors fancifully 
imagined heaven to be suspended over it. These are the 
figures for 1810 : — 





Total 


No. to a 


Leagues of 




inhabitants. 


square league. 


Sea Coast. 


Andalusia . . 


. . 755,000 


... 1009 . 


. 20 


Granada . . 


. . 700,000 


860 . 


. 57 


Murcia . . . 


. . 383,226 


582 . 


. 22 


Valencia . . 


. . 830,000 


... 1285 . 


. 69 


Catalonia . . 


. . 859,000 


856 .. 


67 



Mumedro. Murviedro (Mutos viejos) is more remarkable for the 
beauty of its prospects, its Moorish walls, and its being the 
site of the ancient Saguntum, than for the trade which is 
now carried on ; its exports being, as well as those of its 
neighbours Benicarlo and Yinaroz, a small quantity of wine 
and brandy. Much benefit was expected from these places 
when the attention of government was drawn to the 
capacity of the mouth of the Ebro, in 1792; but, as with 
most of the works and projects of that day, the attempt was 
abortive, owing both to deficient means, and the prevalent 
dogma that had Providence intended such things, they would 

Kiver Ebro. have been so ordered. The Ebro (Iberus), the largest river 
in Spain, rising in the heights of the Asturias, and pursuing 
its course in an easterly direction between the Pyrenees and 
one of their secondary branches, passes Tortosa (Dertosa), 



MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 9 

and enters the Mediterranean from the shore which we have 
now reached, after flowing nearly 400 miles. As this river had 
accumulated two marshy peninsulas and several sandy islets 
at its mouth, an attempt was made to improve the port of 
Alfaques, formed by a peninsula, by building the town of Aifaques. 
San Carlos, and cutting a canal to Tortosa, to carry large 
vessels to a point which the velocity of the stream precludes 
their reaching by the river during great part of the year. 
This spot, and the adjacent low grounds, are severely 
scourged after the summer months by el fiebre periodico, 
arising from the bad air exhalations. 

Between the Ebro and Barcelona are numerous small 
towns, with coves where vessels take in cargoes ; but the 
principal place is Tarragona (Tarracd), still surrounded by Tarragona, 
ancient Roman walls : this place gained a melancholy noto- 
riety in the late war with France, from the slaughter of its 
inhabitants by Marshal Suchet. Barcelona (Barcino), lying Barcelona, 
in rather too moist a situation between the rivers Llobregat 
(Rubricatus), and Besos, is the capital of Catalonia, and 
boasting 160,000 inhabitants, is the second city of Spain in 
population and commerce. It is well built, and possesses 
manufactories of silk, gauze, lace, cotton, canvas, leather, Produce, 
woollens, cutlery, paper, fire-arms, soap, and glass, which 
together with wine, spirits, cork, and fruit, form the great 
articles of export. The port is made by art, having little 
depth, and that depth is daily diminishing by the sand 
thrown up during easterly gales, the mole preventing any 
offset ; while the anchorage in the roads is exposed to all 
sea-winds. The coasts of Valencia and Catalonia have Changes of 

Coast. 

gained considerably on the sea, from the incessant agency 
of the Ebro, the Llobregat, the smaller streams, and the 
numerous torrents, which deposit vast quantities of silt, and 
form lines of shoals parallel to the shores, lessening the 
general depth of water for some distance out. 

From Barcelona to the north-eastwards, the shore 
presents a quick succession of small towns and villages, pos- 



10 



MEDITERRANEAN SHORES OF SPAIN. 



Mataro. 



Palamos. 



sessing little trading coves, and remarkable for pleasant 
situations and cleanliness. Among these, the place of most 
consideration is Mataro (Illuro), which has 25,000 inhabi- 
tants, various manufactories, and a thriving trade. But from 
Mataro to the frontiers of France, we scarcely meet any 
town deserving of notice, though the country continues fine, 
and there are many neatly built places of traffic. The roads 
of Palamos and Kosas are good and extensive ; and as the 
worst wind, the tramontanes, comes from the land, it never 
occasions serious mischief. The comparatively little fortress 
of Santa Trinita, which governs the town and anchorages of 
Rosas, has more than once made a resolute defence against 
assailants. Its capture was a difficult exploit to the French* 
when Figueras, the boasted Bulwark of Catalonia, though 
full of ammunition and provisions of all kinds, with a gar- 
rison of 9000 men, disgracefully fell before General Perignon, 
in 1794, and with it the important district of Ampurdan, of 
which Port Ampurias (Emjporiw) is the capital. Beyond 
Rosas, there is a rocky peninsula or head-land, of which the 
chief projecting points are the Capes Norfeo and Creux. 
From this, the most eastern part of Spain, the Pyrenees, 
stretching westward in a straight line of 270 miles, form a 
strong natural barrier between the French and Spanish ter- 
ritories : while from the sea their lofty summits produce a 
continually varying series of striking objects. Alpine lime- 
stone, old red sand-stone, and transition rocks, reposing on 
mica, slate, or granite, are the principal constituents of these 
mountains. 



Balearae. 



§ 2. The Spanish Islands. 

rpHE ^Balearic Islands, comprehending Majorca, and 
-■- Minorca, with Cabrera, Ayre, and several smaller islets, 
lie off the coast of Valencia, and hence that part of the 
Mediterranean was formerly called the Iberian Sea. Some 



SPANISH ISLANDS. 11 

recent legislative enactments have included Iviza and its 
dependencies among the Baleares; but the geographical 
distinction is warranted by Strabo, who distinguishes the 
two groups under the names Gymnesice and Pityusce. Pityusae. 
Yet it is possible, that the Cretan geographer meant to in- 
clude both Pityusae and Gymnesiae under the generic name 
of Balearides, his words being ' of the isles lying in front 
of Iberia (we find or have) two Pityusae and two Gymnesiae, 
but they call them Balearides/ Whether he means all four 
or only the two last, is not clear. However, from what 
Diodorus Siculus and Pliny say, it is probable that he meant 
to give the name of Balearides only to the Gymnesiae 
Considering that this last group possesses but about 275 
miles of coast, and the Pityusae only 73, they are densely 
populated, the numbers standing thus in 1810 : — 

Total No. to a 

inhabitants. square league. 

Majorca 140,700 ... 1256 

Minorca 31,000 ... 1257 

Iviza and Formentara . 15,290 ... 1019 

Majorca, the larger island, is nearly square in shape, Majorca, 
with a mountainous surface, and generally rocky coast, with 
deep water around : hence its aspect is varied, with a 
delicious climate, insomuch that an almost vernal tempera- 
ture is to be found on the higher grounds in the greatest 
heat of the summer, and except on the mountainous ridges, 
the winters are mild and pleasant. There are no rivers, 
properly speaking; but the arroyos — streams or rather 
torrents — are often impetuous during rains, and the Bierra, 
the largest of them, has frequently occasioned great damage 
and loss of life in the vicinity of Palma, the capital of the 
island, and still preserving its ancient name. This is a fine 
town, with a haven and good road-stead ; but though in the 
thirteenth century one of the chief markets of Europe, it 
has now comparatively but little commerce. The other 
principal resorts for shipping are Alcudia and Pollenza 
(Pollentia), both of which are extremely unhealthy in 



12 SPANISH ISLANDS. 

autumn ; and the chief exports are wine, oil, salt, canvas, 
silk, coarse linens, and woollens, dried fruits, honey, mill- 
stones, limestone, and marble. 

Minorca. Minorca is smaller than Majorca, as implied by the 

names (major et minor insula) ; and it is more level, its 
only remarkable elevation being a central hill, Mount Toro, 
with a convent on its summit. Besides the Creek of Ciuda- 
della — the capital, Port Fornelles, and several resorts of 
minor consideration, this island possesses the capacious 
harbour of Port Mahon (Portus Magonis), one of the finest 
and most commodious places for shipping in this sea, and, 
save occasional summer visitations of marsh fever, one of the 
most healthy. Here, during the late war, have I seen a potent 
and magnificent fleet of English men-of-war wintering from 
before Toulon, each ship in a roomy berth ; although there 
were no fewer than six large three-deckers, and twenty-five 
two-deckers, besides numerous frigates, sloops, and brigs, 
in the highest state of efficiency. It was a glorious sight ! 

Pityusaj. I n mid-distance from Majorca to Cape San Martino of 

Valencia, lie the Pityusse islands, a classical name, supposed 
to have been derived from the pine trees with which the 
larger one was covered. • This denomination comprehends 
Iviza, Formentera, Conejera, Bledas, and various smaller 
islets and rocks. Iviza, the Ebusus of the ancients, is hilly 
and stony in many parts, but in others very fertile, pro- 
ducing corn, oil, wine, and fruits of many kinds ; and the 
mountains are well wooded with pines, firs, and junipers. 
There are several ports affording good anchorage to mode- 
rate-sized vessels ; but the best is before the town of Iviza, 
the capital, where much salt and timber are embarked. 
Coium- Between the Balearic Islands and the coast of Valencia, 

at about the distance of ten leagues from the latter, lie the 
Columbretes (Colubraria), a group of volcanic rocks, which, 
for the reasons I have given in the first volume of the 
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, I cannot but 
deem to have been the Ophiusa of the earlier ancients. 



bretes. 



MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF FRANCE. 13 

The harbour on the east side of the largest islet, is evidently 
the mere broken mouth of an ancient crater. Finding that 
they were unknown in detail, in order to distinguish the 
several rocks, I named them after the most scientific officers 
in the Spanish navy, as they now appear on the plan pub- 
lished by the Admiralty. 



§ 3. The Mediterranean Coast of France. 

FROM the Mediterranean shores of France, as well as of Changes of 
. Coast. 

Spain, the sea has retired in several places, and gained 

upon none. Indeed, in no other closed sea, are there so many 
well ascertained accessions of land at the mouth of large rivers. 
Thus Aigues Mortes, which in the thirteenth century was a 
sea-port, is now five miles inland ; Miquelon and Psalmody 
were islands in the year 815, and in 1820 they were two leagues 
from the sea ; and even some of the present vineyards of Agde, 
were covered by the sea only a century ago. By the advance 
of the land upon the sea, owing to the alluvium of the 
Argeus, the ancient port of Frejus was converted into a pes- 
tilential marsh, and at a later period into terra firma, half a 
mile from the sea. But the greatest accession of new land 
is that which forms the delta between the two mouths of the 
River Rhone, where old lines of guard-towers and sea-marks 
occur at different distances from the present beach, and 
indicate the successive retreats of the sea in comparatively 
recent times. 

Between Cape Creux and the River Yar, a space of France, 
about 300 miles, the Mediterranean is bounded by the 
southern shores of France — a mighty state, whether empire, 
kingdom, or republic — shores which I have visited both in 
war and in peace. On passing the Cape, the coast of the 
Department of the Eastern Pyrenees continues mountainous 
and rocky ; then succeed the low and marshy flats of the 



14 MEDITERRANEAN COAST OP FRANCE. 

rivers Aude and Herault, in which are many extensive 
etangs or salt lagoons communicating with the sea, the 
principal ones being those of Leucate (Leucata), Sijean, 
Gruisson, and Thau, which are intersected by a navigable 
canal. Coast-ways, after leaving Spain, the first town of 
Port France is- that which gives a name to the insignificant Port 
Vendre (Portus Veneris), and the second is its congener 
Callioure. A low coast and bad lee-shore, as well as an 
insalubrious one, extend along the front of the ponds, to 
which the principal inlet is the port of Narbonne (Narbo 
Martins), once a flourishing maritime place, now ten miles 
inland. East-north-east of this, the fort of Brescou, on an 
insulated rock, announces the approach to the ancient town 
Cette. of Agde {Agatha), formerly the capital of a county. Cette 
(Setius), was built on a narrow tongue of land which sepa- 
rates the pool of Thau from the sea, its haven being the prin- 
cipal outlet of the great Canal of Languedoc in 1666 : it has 
Montpeiiier. also become the port of the adjacent city of Montpellier (Mons 
Pessulanus vel Puellarum), so celebrated for its excellent 
climate, and its school of medicine. Here they embark the 
wines of Lunel and Frontignan ; the perfumery, preserves, 
liqueurs, wines, calicos, woollens, snuff, soap, cream of tartar, 
vitriol, and verdigris of Montpellier ; and the salt, as also 
tunnies, sardines, anchovies, and other fish of the neighbour- 
Rhone, hood. Beyond this, the mouths of the Rhone (Rhodanus) 
form a number of islands, a great part of which are nearly 
level with the sea. The largest of them, named Camargue, 
has nearly the shape of a Delta, with the city of Aries 
(Arelate), at its apex : but it is properly a mere assemblage 
of little marshy islets and sand-banks accumulated along the 
former seashore, with the great brackish lagoon of Yalcares 
occupying the centre. Between this and Port de Bouc, is 
La crau. the singular stony desert called La Crau (Campus Lapideus), 
a space of more than 150,000 acres, entirely covered with 
boulders and rolled shingle. This name is not to be con- 
founded with Les Graus du Rhone (Gradus Rhodoni), a 



MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF FRANCE. 15 

designation of the mouths of the river ; this word, * Graus/ 
seems to have meant a landing place at such locality, as 
with the Grao of Spain, and the Grado of Italy. 

The principal mouth of the Rhone is its eastern branch, Guifof Foz. 
or that which flows into the Gulf of Foz, where, during 
freshes, it disembogues with such force and rapidity, as to 
carry its own waters far into the sea. This was practically 
proved by the watering of Sir Edward Pellew's fleet in the 
late war, when his ships anchored in the offing south-east of 
the Tour de St. Louis, and skimmed as much potable water 
as there was occasion for : at three quarters of a mile from 
the shore, the fresh run was about three feet deep, and it 
was taken during the morning lulls. 

Between the Gulf of Foz and the River Var, the 
Comte de Provence of former days, the coast is undu- 
latory, and indented with numerous ports, coves, and bays, 
where vessels of all descriptions may find a berth. Of these, 
Martigues (Maritima) at the entrance of an extensive Martigues. 
lagoon communicating with the sea, often called Vetang de 
Berre, is of importance from furnishing both fish and salt 
for commerce. Marseilles (Massilia) is a maritime city of Marseilles. 
the first class, having upwards of 120,000 inhabitants, and 
maintaining a commercial activity second to none in France ; 
the approach to its secure haven is marked by the rocky 
isles of Planier, Ratoneau, and Pomegue. Eastwards of 
Marseilles, the towns of Cassis and Ciotat are resorted 
to by coasting traders, and the muscat wines of this depart . 
ment are largely exported. Passing these, and rounding 
that well-known headland Cape Sicie,* we enter the harbour 
of Toulon (Telo Martins) the second naval port of France, Toulon, 
so celebrated for its arsenal and fortifications; but the 
business of the place, independently of the government 
establishments, is not very great. Flour, wine, brandy, oil, 



* I say well-known, because it was in the sight of our officers and sea- 
men of the blockading fleet for months together. I had a tolerable spell of 
it myself in 1811 and 1812. 



16 MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF FRANCE. 

olives, dried fruits, tobacco, and other productions of the 
neighbourhood, besides soap, coarse woollens, cordage, 
morocco-leather, chocolate, vermicelli, and other manu- 
factures, are the principal articles of commerce ; and some 
merchant vessels are built at this place. 

From Toulon eastward, we enter the great bay or road of 
iiy&res. Hyeres, all the projecting points of which are strongly 
fortified ; lying within the Porquerolles (Stcechades) islands, 
and having the beautiful town of Hyeres (Olbia vel Arece) 
and its ever-fruitful gardens on an adjacent eminence. 
It should be remarked, en passant, that this is said to be the 
only place in Europe north of Italy, where the orange 
flourishes without artificial shelter in winter. The whole 
of this expanse of water forms a superb anchorage for any 
number of ships; and in August, 1811, the English block- 
ading fleet, though fired at in passing, took up a berth 
there out of gun-shot. A French division consisting of 
three first-rates and ten two-deckers, came out of Toulon on 
the following day ; but on the speedy appearance of some of 
our fleet, one of which was the Rodney, of seventy-four 
guns, (the ship in which I was then serving,) they retreated 
to their moorings, and we returned to the Bay of Hyeres, 
where we remained for three weeks at single anchor. 
During this time the topsail yards were swayed to the mast- 
heads every evening, strong divisions of guard-boats properly 
stationed, with every possible preparation for any sudden 
emergency. Such was the contrast afforded to this scene 
when I last sailed among those islands in the Adventure, 
that scarcely a vessel was to be seen; and I passed with 
perfect impunity close to the point of Porquerolles, where I 
had formerly seen those noble first-rates the Caledonia, 
Ville de Paris, Temeraire, and Hibernia, receive and return 
a heavy cannonade, while they drifted past under a light 
morning air ! 

The coast from Hyeres Bay to the Italian boundary 
is more or less elevated ; and has many bays, coves, and 



COAST OF WESTEEN ITALY. 17 

indentations between the rocky headlands, as those of St. Coast 
Tropez or Grimaud (Aihenapolis), Frejus (Forum Julii), Na- 
poule or Cannes, Gourjean, and Antibes (Antipolis) ; which 
are improperly termed gulfs by the native pilots and mariners. 
From Antibes a low sandy beach turns to the north-eastward, 
where, and at the distance of about two leagues, is the mouth 
of the river Var (Varus), which separates France from Savoy, The var. 
the boundary being marked by a toll-house in the middle 
of the floating bridge across the stream. This turbid river, 
which rises in the ramifications of the Alps, between 
Barcelonette and Colmars, has a course of about twenty-five 
leagues to the sea, where its bed is above a mile in breadth. 
It runs so rapidly during freshes from the mountains 
or the melting of snows as to prevent the erection of a 
permanent bridge ; at such times, the floods of the Var, 
freighted with silt, discolour the sea-waters to a consider- 
able distance from the shore. 



§ 4. The Coast of Western Italy. 

T? XCEPT illustrious Greece, the classical region of Italy Italy. 
-■-^ (Hesperia) is more calculated to awaken enthusiasm 
and contemplation than any other on earth; for to that 
most interesting and beautiful country, the rest of Europe is 
largely indebted for the practice of various branches of polity, 
science, art, and rural economy. Italy, like the expiring 
eagle, has been sorely wounded by arrows feathered from 
her own wing, and has long since descended from her high 
estate ; but though morally degenerate, she still boasts all 
those physical advantages which raised her to a world-wide 
distinction. What a potent arm of power and civilization 
she might still exert, were not all the several states at utter 
enmity with each other, so that she could not become an inte- 
gral kingdom, nor scarcely a federative republic ! Although 

C 



18 COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 

inhabitants of a soil where climate, religion, language, 
manners, and customs are all in substance nearly uniform, 
however varied in community and government, there is no 
bond of common national feeling ; all being alike in one 
quality only, that capacity of indulging hatred of one an- 
other which feeds implacable factions, and engenders distrust 
and disunion. I have lately been assured that the popu- 
lation has rapidly increased, and now amounts to upwards 
of twenty-five millions, an assertion for which proof is not 
given. The numbers furnished by my friend and colleague, 
General Visconti, for the year 1820, are founded on a 
census taken by order of Napoleon about the year 1810. 

Square d^„i„+:„„ To the 

Miles. Population. squaremi i e „ 



Naples and Sicily . . 
Kingdom of Sardinia 
Lombardy and Venice* . 
Ecclesiastical State . . 
Grand Duchy of Tuscany 
Duchy of Parma . . . 
States of Modena . . . 
Duchy of Lucca . . . 
Republic of San Marino 



43,600 ... 6,750,000 ... 162 

27,400 ... 3,976,000 ... 146 

18,920 ... 4,054,600 ... 212 

14,500 ... 2,350,000 ... 168 

8,500 ... 1,182,900 ... 140 

2,280 ... 377,000 ... 121 

2,060 ... 370,000 ... 190 

420 ... 138,000 ... 328 

40 ... 7,000 ... 175 



Gulf of Arriving at the coasts of what was anciently termed 

Liguria, the space between the Yar and Genoa is known as 
the Riviera di Ponente (Western beach) ; and that from 
Genoa to Spezzia as the Riviera di Levante (Eastern beach) ; 
in both cases with relation to Genoa as a centre. The 
whole consists of rocky precipices flanking lofty mountains, 
intersected by fruitful valleys, and varied with a succession 
of picturesque towns and villages through a length of about 
175 miles. There is a considerable coasting-trade along the 
shores of the Gulf of Genoa, the produce being oil, rice, 
fruit, hemp, silk, velvet, anchovies, and palm-branches, with 
which last articles, San Remo has the exclusive privilege of 
supplying Rome for its religious festivals. 



* By a census taken in 1825, the population of Austrian Italy had 
increased to 4,237,000; of whom 500 were Armenians, 700 Greeks, 5600 
Jews, 66,500 Germans, and 4,163,700 Italians. 



COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 19 

Nizza, or Nice (Niccea), the first maritime town on the Nice. 
Riviera di Ponente, with its commodious little artificial 
port, is agreeably placed on the banks of the Paglion, a 
mountain torrent, at the foot of Mont Albano, the citadel 
of which protects both Nice and the capacious harbour 
of Villa Franca on the east. The whole of this neighbour- Vi ^ anca 
hood indicates that great geological changes have occurred, 
not only in the position of rocks and strata, but even in the 
relative height of land and water. The hollows and fissures in Geological 

° changes. 

the rock now above water are frequently found to contain shells 
similar to those which now exist in the Mediterranean ; and 
strong marks of upheaving were pointed out to me by that 
obliging local naturalist, Dr. Risso. Between Nizza and Coast 

towns 

Ventimiglia (Albium Intemelium), lies the little princi- 
pality of Monaco (Portus Herculis Monceci), and further 
eastward are the considerable trading towns of San Remo, 
Port Maurizio (Portum Maurici), Oneglia, Alassio, Al- 
benga (Albium Ingawnum), Finale, Noli, Vado (Vada 
Sabata), and Savona (Savo) ; which last, beautifully situated, Savona. 
strongly fortified, and commanding as well the waters as 
the Cornice, or great road of the Riviera, has been absurdly 
and unwisely sacrificed to the commercial jealousy of 
Genoa, to please whose prejudices the harbour, which 
was roomy and good, was partly choked up in 1525. Not- 
withstanding this and other injuries it carries on a con- 
siderable trade, the port being still very secure, though 
fit only for vessels of about two hundred tons. In the 
beautiful ravines and valleys of this space both intermittent 
and remittent fevers are occasioned by the summer exha- 
lations ; and it will be recollected that Napoleon, who must 
have had early knowledge of malaria at Ajaccio, was 
charged with having sent Pius VII. to Savona, that he 
might fall a victim to the marsh miasmata. 

Genoa (Genua), one of the handsomest cities in Europe, Genoa. 
is built on the declivity of a hill flanking the Ligurian 
Apennines, in the deepest recess of the wide gulf which 

c 2 



20 COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 

forms a crescent from the frontiers of France to those of 
Tuscany. Its port, fatto per for 'za as the Italians term it, 
is formed by two moles, sixteen or eighteen feet above the 
level of the water, the heads of which are about three hun- 
dred fathoms asunder. This people have been well known 
for ages, as essentially commercial, and although its fleets 
are no longer the terror of the Levant, its tendency to 
maritime superiority is still manifest, its ships, though few, 
being in excellent order, and its sailors among the best of 
Italy. Even in its palmy days, although the government 
was highly aristocratic, the nobility of Genoa were allowed 
to be engaged in manufactories of velvet, silk, and cloth ; to 
farm the duties ; to speculate in foreign commerce, and to 
hold shares in merchant vessels ; but all other business and 
handicrafts were strictly forbidden. 

To the east of Genoa, along the populous shores of 
the Riviera di Levante, the succession of towns and villages 
is almost as quick as to the west. Running past Bisagno 
and Nervi, the first place of consideration in a nautical 

Porto Fino. point of view is Porto Fino {Portus Delphini), a cove with 
a small pier-haven between two lofty promontories, which 
form conspicuous guides for the coasting voyager. Rapallo, 
Lavagna (JSntella) — where the only quarry of slate in Italy 
is worked — Chiavari, Sestri di Levante (Segeste), Moneglia 
(Monilium), and various sea-side villages, lead to Porto 

Gulf of - Yenere and the capacious Gulf of Spezsia (Portus Lwwnsis), 
which latter has good soundings throughout, and is one of 
the finest and safest bays in the Mediterranean. The im- 
portance of this place being represented to Napoleon, he 
was led to contemplate making it one of his great naval 
stations; and the plans consequently drawn up by his 
engineers being obtained by Lord William Bentinck, at the 
surrender of Genoa in the year 1814, his lordship, to whom 
I acted as naval aide-de-camp, kindly submitted them to 
my examination. 

Although the independent states of Massa and Lucca 



COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 21 

are considered as forming the eastern boundary of the 
duchy of Genoa, it must geographically be said that Spezzia 
is succeeded by the coast of Tuscany ; and indeed it was Tuscany, 
formerly held to be the limit of Liguria to the south. Passing, 
therefore, the Magra (Macro), a mountain-stream which 
enters the sea at the Marinella of Luni (Lunce Portus), 
and running by Pietra Santa (Lucus Feronice), Via-Heggio 
(Fossae Papiriance), and the mouth of the Arno (Portus 
Pisanus), we arrive at Leghorn — the mouth of Tuscany, Leghorn. 
and one of the busiest ports of Italy. The prosperity of the 
place is owing to the sound judgment which prompted the 
establishment of a free port with full religious toleration 
and liberal immunities. Boasting no splendour of antiquity, 
although the site of Portus Herculis Liburni, it became 
a place of importance on the fall of the neighbouring Porto 
Pisano, which succumbed to the joint operations of the 
Arno, the sea, and the Genoese, in filling and choking it. 
By careful drainage the malaria around it has been greatly 
diminished, but still the climate is so damp as to justify the 
proverb — Pisa pesa a chi posa. Leghorn suffered greatly 
under the rule of Napoleon ; but it is now a prosperous 
Porto-Franco again, supplying a large part of the interior 
with foreign goods, and exporting coarse woollens, cotton, 
silk, maize, oil, iron, paper, potash, marble, alabaster, coral, 
anchovies, platted straw for hats and bonnets, and artificial 
flowers. The fishery of anchovies is very productive. This 
fish enters the Mediterranean in large shoals by the Strait 
of Gibraltar in the spring, for the purpose of breeding, after 
which it retires again to the depths of the Atlantic. 

From Leghorn the coast of Tuscany extends south-east- 
wards as far as the bold promontory formed by Mount 
Argentero ; and there are various loading-places between, small porta. 
as Vada (Vada Volaterrana), Cecina, Porto Baratto (Popu- 
lonium), Piombino, Fullonica — where there are the prin- 
cipal smelting bloomeries or works of the iron from Elba — 
Castiglione, Telamone (Portus Telamo), Port San Stefano, 



22 COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 

and Orbitello, in the middle of the lake of that name, the 
eels of which are equally celebrated and profitable. These 
places are on the margin of the sea-side marshes, known as 

Maremme. the Maremme, -unwholesome lowlands, diffusing with more 
or less virulence their pestilential exhalations along the 
whole west coast of Italy. Those of Tuscany, through 
drainage and tillage, have been of late greatly improved, 
but continue to be very deadly in summer. Of the portion 
now before us, the river Ombrone {Umbro) and its affluents 
form a principal drain, if such a term can properly be used 
in speaking of the Tuscan maremme and paludi, the 
pestiferous exhalations of which furnished Dante with his 
disgusting parallel of the tenth gulf in hell.* In the 
heights around, most of the women have been married two 
or three times, because only the men leave their houses to 
labour in the marshes, where they are tempted by fatigue 
sometimes to sleep, though at the risk of illness and death. 

Changes of The sea has retreated from Telamone, and left a mere 

coast. 

morass; while Domitian's Port, under the northern cliffs 
of Monte Argentero (Mons Argentarius), is submerged. 
The coast of Tuscany, from Carrara to this port, may be 
estimated at about 140 geographical miles. 

The Tuscan islands lying opposite to this coast are, 
Gorgona (Urgo), Capraja (JSgilori), Elba, Giglio (Igilium), 
Pianosa (Planasia), Monte Christo (Oglasa), and some 
Elba. smaller islets. Of these, Elba (JUthalia sive Ilva) merits 
a distinct mention on account of its excellent harbours and 
bays, abundance of iron and other mineral productions, 
its picturesque beauty of scenery, and its having been 
allotted by the Congress of Vienna as a Barataria for the 



* Dante, in Canto xxix. of the Inferno, visits the decima oolgia — 

Qual dolor fora, se degli spedali 

Di Val-di-chiana, tra '1 luglio e '1 settembre, 
E di Maremma, e di Sardegna i niali 

Fossero in una fossa tutti insembre ; 

Tal era quivi ; e tal puzzo n' usciva, 
Qual suol venir dalle marcite membre. 



COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 23 

fallen Napoleon. Elba itself is somewhat less than fifty 
miles in circuit, and the islets immediately adjacent are its 
dependencies. 

Rounding Argentaro to the southward, the first Roman Roman 
town is at Port Ercole (Portus Cossanus sive Herculis) ; 
between which and Terracina, a space of 150 miles, lies the 
west coast of the Papal States, for the most part an open 
and exposed beach on which the sea-winds drive a heavy 
surf. The shore consists principally of low unhealthy flats, 
interrupted at certain points by a bolder and better country. 
Nearly in the mid-distance of this space, the celebrated 
river Tiber discharges its waters by two principal branches Tiber. 
through its marshy delta still called Isola Sagra (Insula 
Sacra) ; off which there is good anchorage within sight 
of St. Peter's lofty cross. The scantiness of the Medi- 
terranean tides renders the estuaries of its rivers nearly 
useless for the purposes of navigation and commerce ; a 
great and lasting disadvantage to these countries, especially 
as most of the streams have a rapid descent: and that aid 
which causes the current to turn, and bear the laden ship to 
the busy mart, is here wanting. My schooner-rigged barge, 
riding in the middle of the river opposite the Dogana — with 
its ensign and pendant, its morning and evening gun, and 
its well-disciplined crew — was an object of great admiration 
to the Romans of all ranks and conditions. Though trading 
vessels resort to Fiumicino, the southern mouth of the 
Tiber, and to various other little ports in this territory, the 
main harbour of the States of the Church on this side 
is Civita Vecchia (Centum-cellce sive Trajani Portus), civita 

"VgccIik 

a town fortified by that universal genius, Michael Angelo ; 
and possessing fine specimens of Trajan's marine works.* 



* Besides the havens of Centum-celhe, Portus Trajanus in Etruria, and 
Ancona, I am inclined from examination to think that Trajan greatly 
enlarged and improved the work of Claudius, at the Port of Ostia : wherein 
I agree with the Scholiast of Juvenal, in his commentary on the passage 
where that poet describes the narrow escape of his friend Catullus from 
shipwreck. 



24 COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 

But between the Tiber and Terracina (Anxur), especially 
near Porto d'Anzo (Ceno Portus) and Nettuno (Antium) 
are ruins of piscinae, baths, and villas of the old Romans, 
among which is Astura, so long the residence of Cicero, and 
still retaining its name, now submerged in the sea, which 
thus proves its encroachment on this part of the coast. It 
will be recollected that this same space is the margin of the 
pontine Pontine Marshes (Pontince Paludes), a district so notorious 

Marshes. v ' i t i_ 

for its aria cattiva, and consequent deserted state, although 
once the principal element of the power of the Volsci, and 
the prosperous site of thirteen cities on a territory now 
without even a village, despite of its being rich beyond con- 
ception in cattle, timber, and vegetable wealth. These 
paludi, or fens, are occasioned by the quantity of water 
carried into the plain by innumerable streams that rise at 
the foot of the mountains to the east of Rome, which, for 
want of sufficient declivity, creep sluggishly over the level 
space, and sometimes stagnate in pools, or lose themselves 
in the sands. Here, fermenting with decayed vegetable 
matter, and acted on by a fervid climate, malaria is pro- 
duced; — that invisible enemy which poisons the fairest 
portions of Italy, otherwise so salubrious, and renders man 
a sufferer from his cradle to his early grave. There is every 
appearance that the basin of these marshes was once a gulf 
of the sea, which has been gradually filled up by the 
alluvium from the mountains ; and that Monte Circello 
(Circeii prom.) was an island when Homer wrote, whether 
he ever meant the place or not. 

The kingdom of Naples, extending over the southern 
part of Italy, abounds in beautifully varied scenery, and 
is remarkably fertile, insomuch that its commerce, though 
pretty good, might easily be made much better, but for the 
arbitrary system of duties and impolitic restrictions on 
Coast of trade. The western coast of this kingdom, which we 
have now reached, is generally bold, and indented by many 
deep bays — usually termed gulfs by the native pilots, — 



COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 25 

such as those of Gaeta, Naples, Salerno, Policastro, Sant 
Eufemia, and Gioja : and its extent, from Terracina to 
Cape Spartivento is about 370 miles. In this space there 
are numerous small ports and caricatori, or loading places, 
and various tolerable anchorages for large ships in all winds 
from the eastward. The chief exports are wine, fruit, oil, 
olives, cheese, maccaroni, silk, aloes, wool, argols, lichens 
for dyeing, pozzolana, potash, hemp, and leather. 

Gaeta (Gaieta) is a strong fortress on the rocky pro- Gaeta. 
montory of La Santa Trinita, which is joined to the main- 
land by a narrow isthmus, whence it has obtained the 
appellation of little Gibraltar : there is a haven for small 
vessels, and its road offers excellent anchorage, especially in 
front of Mola (Formice). Before the bay is a group of 
small volcanic islands, — namely, Palmarola (Palmaria), 
Ponza (Pontia), Gianuti, Zannone (Sinonia), Yandotina, 
and some smaller rocks : they are bold, and the channels 
among them very deep ; but all have evidently lost much 
of their original extent by the destructive force and degra- 
dation of surf and atmosphere. The Bay of Naples (Par- Naples. 
thenope sive Neapolis) is of a semicircular form, sur- 
rounded by mountains, among which the still-active vol- 
cano, Vesuvius, rises to the height of 3880 feet; and by 
its smoke acts as a pharos to vessels in the offing. The 
limits of this bay, still called Grater by the native hydro- 
graphers, are Cape Miseno and the isles of Ischia (jEnaria) 
and Procida (Prochyta) on the north, and Cape Campanella 
(Minervo3 prom.) with the isle of Capri (Caprece) on the 
south. The combination of such scenery with objects so 
memorable and celebrated, is as remarkable as it is strik- 
ing: the beautiful city winding along the shores of this 
bay, its villas and villages, its picturesque heights and 
islands, its intensely interesting remains of classical an- 
tiquity, and even its earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, all 
combine to fill the spectator's mind with delight. Although 
this is not the place for archaeological recollections, yet 



26 



COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 



Paestum. 



Coast 
towns, 



who can forget Baise and Herculaneum, Pompeia and 
Stabia ! Nor can we but give a glance to the southward; 
and ask who can believe in the idle story of Psestum's 
stately temples having only been discovered in 1755 ? 
These interesting relics may have been unnoticed by anti- 
quarians — perhaps from the moral and physical impedi- 
ments of lawless men and pestiferous air — but were 
assuredly well known to seamen, being conspicuously 
visible from every offing of the Bay of Salerno (Salemum) ; 
and l i pilieri di Pesto ' were given as a sea-mark, long 
before Sebastian Gorgoglione, the pilot, wrote his very 
popular Portolano. 

Continuing along the Lucanian coast, from the Galli 
rocks (Sirenusce insulce) and picturesque shores of Amalfi 
to the southward, a rich line of coast is presented, with all 
varieties of beach and cliff, hill and valley, and towns and 
villages. Of the latter the principal are Policastro (Pyxus), 
Amantea (Lampetice), Tropea (Prostroproea), Scylla (Scyl- 
Iceum), and Reggio (Rhegium). The territory affords a 
substantial trade in corn, wine, oil, honey, wax, silk, fruits, 
and legumes of all kinds ; while the shores yield tunnies, 
sword-fish, pilchards, sardines, and various other fishes ; 
but all the lower grounds are exceedingly unhealthy. The 
m. Cocozzo. great sea-mark of the coast is the elevated Monte Cocozzo, 
which is the highest of the Calabrian Mountains, for the 
greater part of the year covered with snow. 

It is decided, upon what appears to be sound geological 
evidence, that a great part of the Italian coast has been 
raised and lowered several times within the historical era, 
while the sea must have ever maintained the same level ; 
although it may once have washed the foot of the nearest 
Apennine. The mouth of the Tiber has advanced greatly, 
and lowered its level, even in the last eighteen centuries; 
for Ostia, and the port Claudius, are now far inland ; while 
nearly the whole delta, called Isola Sagra, has been formed 
since that period. Between the Tiber and Terracina, the 



Geological 
changes. 



COAST OF WESTERN ITALY. 27 

old port of which has long been filled up, the coast is 
strewed with remains of ancient villas and works, which 
in some places — as at Nettuno and Anzo — are far in the 
sea. Homer appears to have heard Monte Circello de- 
scribed as an island, since his account of the place tallies 
very fairly with what the Pontine marshes would now 
suggest; and in the age of Theophrastus, this hill was a 
mile from the shore. By the joint actions of the marl 
and peat of the marshes, the vast alluvial deposits, and 
perhaps the detritus of the decreasing Ponza islands 
thrown up by the sea, this mass of transition limestone 
has become a promontory ; and its cliffs, as well as some 
of those on the coast of Calabria, bear unequivocal testimony 
of a former submersion, from being thickly perforated by 
the borings of recent mollusks at the height of more than 
one hundred feet above the present level of the sea. In 
the Abbate Romanelli's description of Capri, published in 
1816, he says — 'Near the eastern summit there is also a 
singular calcareous mass, closely pierced by mitoli and 
vermi litofagi, which indication of the pholades proves the 
sea to have formerly reached that height : and this was con- 
firmed to me by Professor Scipio Breislak, at Milan, on his 
showing specimens which he had taken from a summit of 
that island, colla suo propria mano. But the master-key in 
evidence of geological cycles of great extent on this coast, 
is offered in the interesting ruins of the temple of Jupiter 
Serapis, near Pozzuoli, in the bay of Baise, and about 
one hundred feet from the sea. Of this temple there are 
three columns still standing, which are profusely drilled, 
to the height of from twelve to eighteen or nineteen 
feet, by the perforations of the lithodomus, a bivalve still 
existing in the adjoining sea. When I first visited these 
ruins, in the spring of 1814, the pavement seemed to be 
rather above the level of the Mediterranean ; yet it would 
appear to be slowly sinking again, since in 1850 there were 
upwards of two feet of salt water over it. The whole line 



28 ITALIAN ISLANDS. 

of the adjacent coast between the downs and the beach, 
is of modern formation, consisting of beds of pumice and 
sand, with recent marine shells, lateritious fragments, 
and water-worn pieces of pottery. From every evidence, 
direct as well as inferential, it may be safely concluded that 
the land has risen and fallen twice since the Christian era ; 
and that each movement of elevation and subsidence has 
exceeded twenty feet. 



§ 5. Of the Italian Islands. 

rpHIS term, in chorographical parlance, does not include 
**- the isles which lie near the coasts of Tuscany or 
Naples ; but is especially applied to Corsica, Sardinia, 
and Sicily, with their dependencies. The two first lie 
north and south of each other off the west coast of Italy, 
in nearly a straight line, stretching across the sea between 
Genoa and Tunis for 80 leagues ; and though separated 
only by the Strait of Bonifaccio, exhibit many remarkable 

Corsica. differences, both moral and physical. Corsica may be con- 
sidered as one vast mass of granite rising to a height of 
8700 feet above the level of the sea, with a banda or 
plateau on each side, of about 310 miles in circuit; it 
possesses a great variety of minerals, and is clothed with 
forests of oak, beech, fir, cedar, cork, ash, and chestnut trees. 
It holds the third rank among Mediterranean islands, and 
its produce is corn, wine, oil, olives, legumes, carobs, fruits, 
silk, honey, wax, marbles, coral, tunny, botarghe, and salt. 

Sardinia. Sardinia, although from the small sinuosity of its coasts 

it has a circuit of little more than 500 miles, is upwards of 
140 miles in length from north to south, with an average 
breadth of 60 miles ; and, as I have elsewhere said, until 
I had myself established the admeasurement, I considered 
Sicily, from a very prevailing error, as the largest of the 



ITALIAN ISLANDS. 29 

Mediterranean islands ; and though the difference is trifling, 
I now subscribe to the assertion of that very early hydro- 
grapher Scylax, who is somewhat technically called, by my 
venerable friend Major Rennel, ' the Pilot/ and who, ac- 
cording to Cluverius, says, c Maxima est Sardinia, secunda 
Sicilia, tertia Creta, quarta Cyprus, quinta Eubcea, sexta 
Corsica, septima Lesbus/ It is a much lower island than 
Corsica, few of its mountain summits exceeding 3000 feet in 
height ; and Gen-Argentu, its culminating peak near the 
centre, being only 5276 feet. A chain of primitive rock 
runs from north to south down the east side of the 
island, but there is a large volcanic district extending 
through its centre, and jutting out in many places to 
the west coast. This is its great physical diversity from 
Corsica, and the principal moral peculiarity may be said to 
be, that Sardinia still retains the feudal system ; but there 
are also various points of difference in other respects 
which struck me during my occasional visits, some of which 
are recorded in my published account of that island. Their 
produce however is similar, as well as their fisheries, and 
both have their coasts indented with excellent bays, 
harbours, and roadsteads ; unhappily there is another point 
of resemblance, since all the low grounds are fatally infected 
in the summer months with intemperie, or malaria, which 
in some spots is truly deadly.* The trading places of 
Corsica are Bastia (3fantinum), Porto Yecchio, Bonifaccio, 
Ajaccio, Calvi, and San Firenzo : of Sardinia the principal 
ones are Cagliari (Garalis), Sassari, Alghero, Oristano, San 
Pietro, Ogliastro, Terra-nova, La Maddalena, Longo-Sardo, 
and Castel-Sardo : the eastern shores of both islands are 
less indented with bays than the western, and it is espe- 
cially so with regard to Corsica ; where the sea is receding 



* For instance, in my Sketch of Sardinia (page 295) I mention the 
pestilential atmosphere on the western coast, as authorizing the oft-repeated 
proverb : — 

A Oristano che ghe va, 

In Oristano ghe resta ! 



30 ITALIAN ISLANDS. 

from that side, so much that Alleria, once a Roman seaport, 
is now upwards of a mile inland. 

Sicily. The island of Sicily is separated from the continent by the 

celebrated Faro, or Strait of Messina (Stretto Mamertino), 
where every appearance justifies the popular belief that 
a violent disruption, or subsidence of strata, has taken 
place at some one remote period. Although this island 
is actually in surface rather smaller than Sardinia, it 
has a circuit of 550 miles of winding coast, and is com- 
monly deemed as of greater importance ; and may be so 
justly, whether its geographical position, historical celebrity, 
climate, or produce, be the circumstances considered — in 
each and in all of these, it assuredly is one of the most 
interesting and important islands in the world. As is 
implied by its ancient name, Trinacria, it is terminated 
by three remarkable promontories, and intersected through- 
out by ranges of hills, between which are valleys and plains 
of the most exuberant fertility ; but unhappily these are the 
usual seats of malaria, some of them being notoriously 
pestiferous. None of the hills are of any very con- 
siderable height except Mount Etna, the most remarkable 
volcano of Europe, which rises to the elevation of 10,874 
feet.* It appears from the sea, on every side of the island, 
like a vast dome towering over all the other mountains. 

Ports of The ancient ports of Palermo (Panormus) have been 

Sicily. . . 

filled up in comparatively recent ages, but it possesses a 
very capacious mole harbour, by which a great traffic is 



* I must here show a gratifying coincidence in the determinations of 
the several stations on this mountain, made by two observers without any 
knowledge of each other's operations : — 

Smyth, 1814. Herschel, 1824. 

Grotta delle Capre 5,362 5, 423'6 English feet. 

Bishop's Snow-store 7,410 7,103*8 

The English House 9,592 9,5927 

The summit of Etna 10,874 10,872'5 

Several other places were evidently as corroborative, but that the observa- 
tions were taken at different spots ; as, for instance, my height of Nicolosi 
is 2449 above the sea at the Convent, and Herschel 's 2,232*8 at Gremellaro's 
House. (See Captain Basil Hall's Patchwork, vol. iii. ch. 3.) 



ITALIAN ISLANDS. 31 

maintained. Besides its numerous caricatori, or authorized 
loading-places, and its artificial ports, Sicily boasts the fine 
harbours of Messina (Mesana vel Z ancle), Augusta, Syracuse, 
Trapani (Drepanum), and Milazzo (Mylce); and there are also 
various other excellent road-anchorages for the largest ships. 
Hence there is a busy traffic ; and, notwithstanding the moral 
causes which deaden the physical energies of its resources, 
the exports are still both valuable and various. An enume- 
ration of its principal branches of trade sufficiently proves 
this, for they consist of corn, wine, oil, fruit, manna, honey, Produce, 
wax, saffron, carobs, liquorice, sumach, marbles, sulphur, 
nitre, barilla, salt, linseed, amber, cantharides, coral, cork, 
flax, rice, silk, hides, soap, cheese, squills, rags, cotton, 
wool, madder, orchil, timber, fish, botarghe, tobacco, and 
all kinds of leguminous vegetables. 

The arenaceous and shingly conglomerate to which I Hard 

& J . . & beaches, 

have alluded in my Memoir on Sicily, occupies a great part 
of the beaches around the island ; and is very observable 
between Cape Granitola and Sciacca. Indeed a compound 
of this kind, replete with shells, fills up the hollows in most 
of the older rocks in Sicily. On facts connected with this, 
I have also stated that it is unlikely that the Faro of 
Messina has increased in width for many ages ; from thence 
to Scaletta, the beach is generally hardened into a compact 
conglomerate of which small mill-stones are made on the 
spot. This may probably proceed from the water which 
percolates through the fiumare, holding carbonate of lime 
in solution, and precipitating travertine. 

On the north coast of Sicily are situated the Lipari Li P ari 

islands. 

Islands, so long famed as the jEolian, or Vulcanian 
group ; consisting of Alicudi (Ericodes), Felicudi (Phceni- 
codes), Salina (Didyme), Lipari (Lipara), Vulcano (Hiera), 
Panaria (Hicesia), Stromboli (Strongyle), and some smaller 
rocks. The islands are generally precipitous and bold-to, 
except in the vicinity of Panaria ; but as all the dangers 
are marked on the chart, they are easily avoided. The 



32 



ITALIAN ISLANDS. 



group is entirely volcanic, and yields sulphur, nitre, alum, 
arsenic, pumice, various salts, and specular iron. Lipari is 
the largest, most fertile, and best inhabited ; but Stromboli 
is the most remarkable on account of its unceasing eruptions, 
which have gained it the name of the lighthouse of the 
Mediterranean. A feature in the hydro-geology of these 
islands may be noticed. Most of them present steep cliffy 
fronts on the west, and descend in moderate slopes on the 
eastern side; the former plunging at once into deep water, 
and the latter offering a gradual suite of regular soundings. 
A similar peculiarity is also found in many other parts of 
the world. 

ustica. To the west of the Liparis, and north of Palermo, lies 

Ustica, a small but well-cultivated volcanic island, where 
the best barilla of these markets is prepared. Off Trapani 
are the isles of Maretimo (Hiera), Levanso (Bucinna), and 
Faviguana (Jfigusa); and to the south of Sicily are Pan- 
tellaria (Cossyra) — a place of exile for state delinquents, — 
the uninhabited Linosa, Lampedusa— Prosperous enchanted 
island — and Lampion Bock. 

Every one is aware of the vastness of phlaagrean erup- 
tions in these districts, and the numerous extinct as well as 
active cones exhibit the cause of a long series of changes. 
And I think the term ' volcanic agency' may be also applied 
to those emissions of mud, petroleum, and sulphuretted 
hydrogen, of which an example is given in my account of 
Sicily, at the Maccaluba near Girgenti (page 213). 

Malta. Malta (Melita) also ' was anciently an appanage of the 

crown of Sicily, but having been granted by Charles V. 
to the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem on 
their being driven out of Rhodes in 1530, its superb harbour 
was impregnably fortified as a barrier against the Turks, 
and it became one of the most celebrated spots of modern 
times until within a century ago, when unequivocal symp- 
toms of moral degeneracy began to be manifested. From 
its position between Sicily and Africa, it commands the 



ITALIAN ISLANDS. 33 

channel which connects the two great basins of this sea, 
and was therefore, in the recent struggles, too important 
a station to be left in the paralyzed hands of the Knights. 
In 1798, the French made an almost unresisted conquest 
of it ; but after a blockade of almost two years — 
vigorously maintained by the inhabitants themselves on 
land, and by the British fleet at sea — they were compelled 
to relinquish it to the English, to whom it was finally ceded 
at the general peace of 1815. By Scylax, the Maltese isles 
were reckoned among the appendages to Carthage, and 
Melita Africana was distinguished from Melita Illyrica; 
but by a British act of parliament, Malta is now included 
in Europe, notwithstanding that the customs, language, 
and simple mode of life of the natives are a very decided 
evidence of their affinity to the Arabs in Barbary. 

The island of Malta — as well as its dependencies, Gozo 
(Gaulus), Comino, and Filfla — is composed of calcareous 
rock, abounding in petrifactions and fossil remains, and 
generally of an undulating surface, but with some hills, 
as the Benjemma range of above 500 feet, and the Guardia 
of Gozo, which is 570 feet high. There is sufficient local 
evidence that these isles, with a present circuit of about 
sixty miles, have lost much by disintegration. The utmost 
industry has been exerted to fertilize every interstice among 
these otherwise sterile rocks, the soil being — except in 
a few favoured spots — not more than eight or ten inches 
deep ; and their campi artificiali afford proofs of laborious 
industry. Yet moral energy here overcomes physical defects, 
for the isles are exceedingly productive, although their corn 
is barely sufficient for a five months' subsistence of the 
numerous population ; the fruits are finer than those of the 
adjacent countries, and luxuriant crops of sulla (Hedissarum 
coronaria) form the most substantial and nourishing fodder 
for horses and cattle. But the principal branch of their 
industry is the cultivation and manufacture of cotton, of 
which the two best kinds — the Gallipoli and Nankin — - 

D 



34 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 



the one white, and the other yellowish brown, have a 
staple combining length and silkiness in a superior degree. 
We refer the reader to the close of this chapter, for farther 
statistical particulars respecting this colony. 



Adria. 



Adriatic 
gulf. 



§ 6. The Adriatic Sea. 

A LTHOUGH archseology is not our object in this sketch 
•^ of the borders of the Mediterranean, a geographical 
definition of the term Adriatic must be given, lest it might 
be supposed that the views of Veryard, Giorgi, and Bryant, 
can be assented to by one who has critically examined both 
Malta and Meleda. 

The Adriatic Sea is considered to have gained its name 
either from the very ancient city of Adria, or Hadria, 
now some fifteen miles inland, at the farther end of 
the Gulf of Venice, or from Atri in the Abruzzo ; but 
the latter seems untenable. The name is, perhaps, first 
mentioned by Herodotus, who, however, seems to apply 
it rather to the country around the coasts than to the sea 
itself; although he asserts (Clio, 163) that it was first of 
all explored by the Phocseaus. Thucydides tells us (lib. i.) 
that Epidamnus, now Durazzo, is a city on the right 
hand as you sail into the Ionian Gulf ; it is the Hadri- 
acus Undas of Virgil, while Horace makes the Arbiter 
Adrise wash the Calabrian coast ; and Pliny, who calls 
the Adriatic the second gulf of Europe, expressly places 
Cape Lavinium and the town of Croton — both of Cala- 
bria Ultra — on its shores. Strabo describes the Iapygian 
and Ceraunian shores as the line of separation in these 
divisions. He admits that the mouth or strait belongs to 
both, yet it is obvious that the lower part was colonized 

from Ionia, the upper from Adria; the name therefore 
of the first part of this sea is termed Ionian, and the 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 35 

inner part up to its recess, Adriatic ; ' but now/ he says, 
(circa AD. 18,) ' the latter is the name even of the whole 
sea :' and this statement is strengthened by the fact of the 
Gulf of Venice being called the Upper Sea (mare superum) 
by the Latin writers. In a splendid copy of Ptolemy, lent 
to me by his late E.H. the Duke of Sussex, which was 
printed at Rome in the year 1478, Mare Adriaticum appears 
in uncial characters on tabula secunda, in the space between 
Sicilia and Corcyra ; on tabula sexta it is below Bruttium 
and Messene ; on tabula septima it is marked in the offing 
of Leontium, in Sicily ; and on the tenth plate it is opposite 
to the space between Zacynthos and the Strophades. 

Hence it is evident that the Adriatic Sea was held to 
be that vast expanse of waters contained in the Upper, 
the Ionian, and the Sicilian Seas — in fact, that it extended 
both to the north and south, from the narrows which some 
have chosen to assume as its mouth. But these were con- 
vertible terms; for, as we have just seen, Thucydides cites 
the position of Epidamnus as in the Ionian waters, and 
St. Paul's ship was driven up and down in Hadria : the 
Adriatic Sea, says Heschius, ' is the same with the Ionian 
Sea/ a definition that might have suppressed arguments 
which have been conducted with more vehemence than 
judgment. The upper portion of this space, so appropriately 
designated the Gulf of Venice, is of moderate depths — from Depths, 
twelve to twenty fathoms between Istria and Venice, and 
about 100 near its centre; between this and the entrance 
there is a basin which has upwards of 500 fathoms ; and at 
the narrows between Otranto and Valona are 350 fathoms, 
deepening suddenly towards the Ionian Sea. The southern 
division of the Adriatic is as yet unfathomed ; at least, 
I have had occasion, in searching for reported dangers, 
to try for soundings with from 400 to TOO fathoms of line, 
without at any time striking the bottom. The flat lands 
around this sea are subject to malaria in summer. 

Cape Spartivento, or wind-splitter (Herculeum prom.), E ^Sb-i 
d2 



36 THE ADRIATIC SEA. 

is the south-eastern extremity of Calabria, and between it 
and Cape Santa Maria di Leuca, the coast is indented by 
the bays or gulfs of Squillace (Scylleticus Sinus) and 
Taranto, with the petty ports and coves of Gerace (near 
Locri), Catanzaro, Cotrone (Groto), Strongoli (Petilia), 
Roseta, Cesareo (Sasina), and Gallipoli (Gallipolis). Ta- 
ranto (Tarentum), seated in the north-west angle of the 
gulf named after it, was once the rival of Rome, and had 
an excellent port at the mouth of a fine river, which be- 
coming choked up from neglect, commerce deserted it : 
still, however, it boasts nearly 20,000 inhabitants, and 
derives some consideration from its fisheries. Indeed, the 
bays of the whole coast, from the Faro of Messina, abound 
with excellent fish. 

Hard ^he Calabrian beaches offer many specimens of arena- 

beaches. J l 

ceous conglomerate with the calcareous cement, so largely 
occurring in Sicily. Off Cape Rizzuto, a two-fathoms shoal 
may possibly be the remains of the Ogygia vel Calypsus 
Insula of Pliny, which, with four others on this coast, are 
Changes of considered as having been swallowed up. On the west side 

coast. & r 

of the Gulf of Taranto there are symptoms of the sea's 
having receded from the coast, owing to the alluvia carried 
down by the rivers, and the marine deposits thrown up. 
This is well shown at the margin of the once fertile plains 
of Metapontum, between the rivers Bradano (Bradanus) 
and Basiento (Gasuentus) ; where a square tower called Torre 
di Mare, built by the Angevine kings as a station for coast- 
guards, is now above a mile distant from the shore. 
Gulf of Doubling Cape Santa Maria di Lucca (Iapygium prom.), 

V GH1CG. 

under which a black rock called Maleso marks the boundary 
of the Bay of Taranto, we enter the Gulf of Venice by the 
narrow mouth denominated the Strait of Otranto. On ex- 
amination, the navigator will perceive the wide difference 
which exists between the two sides of this sea, the eastern 
shore being generally rocky, replete with islands and ports of 
bold approach, but deficient in inhabitants, provisions, and, 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 37 

in many parts, also in potable water ; the western coast, 
on the contrary, is comparatively shallow, and almost 
without any ports of capacity, yet — excepting some parts 
of Puglia — populous, and abounding in provisions, water, 
and articles of trade. 

The west side of the Adriatic is bounded by Italy, in the East coast 
beaches of which are frequent specimens of the calcareous 
concretion above-mentioned ; and here the soundings are 
more regular than on the opposite coast, with an approach 
of considerably less boldness — a consequence of the main 
current's setting along the shores of Albania, Dalmatia, and 
Istria, and returning by those of Friuli, Venice, Romagna, 
the Abruzzi, and the Capitanata. Besides numerous road- 
anchorages between Otranto (Hydruntum) and the mouth 
of the Po, there are the ports of Brindisi (Brundusium), Trad ™s 
Monopoli (Egnatia), Bari (Barium), Barletta, Manfre- 
donia (Sipontum), Viesti (Apenestce), Ortona and Ancona 
— which retain their ancient names and sites — Sinigaglia 
(Sena Gallica), Fano (Fanum Fortunce), Pesaro (Pisau- 
rum), Rimini (Ariminium), Comacchio, Chioggia (Fossa 
Claudia), and some places of less note, to which busy 
coasters resort. The exports are corn, rice, legumes, Produce, 
fruits, vegetables, oil, wine, cotton, wool, silk, manna, salt, 
hemp, cheese, soap, timber, glass, and liquorice. The 
great lakes between Peschichi and Termoli (Interamna), 
named Lesina (Lacus Pantanus) and Varano (Portus 
Garnai), have immemorially been celebrated for the 
abundance, variety, and excellence of their fish ; but their 
borders are unhealthy. 

The uniformity of this western line of coast is broken in 
three principal places, — namely, first, at Testa di Gargano, 
or Mount Sant' Angelo (Promontorium Garganum), near 
which lie the four Tremiti Isles (Insula Diomedece) ; 
secondly, at Mount Conero (Cumerium prom), between 
Loretto and Ancona ; and thirdly, at the Delta formed by 
depositions at the mouths of the Po (Eridanus and Padus). River Po. 



38 THE ADRIATIC SEA. 

This river, which has been celebrated even as c rex fluvi- 
orum/ has its source in the Grison Alps, and after flowing 
from west to east for more than 280 miles, discharges itself 
into the Adriatic by seven different channels, sometimes, 
during freshes, with such violence, that Tasso says it carries 
war, not tribute, to the sea. At these times the Po renders 
the water of the sea brackish, to a considerable distance out, 
by diluting its saltness : at which opportunities our frigates 
cruising off Goro used to replenish their water by skimming 
the surface just out of gun-shot. The ravages of this river 
have made a great exertion of hydraulic engineering requi- 
site for preventive purposes ; and the embankments, ren- 
dered absolutely necessary by its repeated deposits, have 
raised its bed many feet above the plain through which it 
flows, keeping the whole country of Ferrara and the Polesino 
in constant fear of a flood ; and therefore it is a perpetual 
source of anxiety and expense. 

TheApen- It should be observed that, between the heights of An- 
cona and Mont Sant' Angelo, the celebrated chain of the 
Apennines — the true mountain-system of Italy — runs nearly 
parallel to the sea-line of the Abruzzi, and comparatively 
near ; thereby influencing the seasons and agriculture of the 
intervening space. The population of the plains may be 
said to have nearly reached the utmost verge of subsistence ; 
but the slopes of the mountains are extremely populous, and 
the immense forests of sweet chestnuts maintain a great 
proportion of the inhabitants of the district — and this at an 
elevation where no food for man could be procured in our 
climate. Among the summits seen from this part of the 
Adriatic, the peaks of Monte Corno (Precuti), or the Gran 
Sasso d'ltalia, 9500 feet high, and Monte Majella (Palenus), 
nearly as high, are very striking. 

Venice. The territory of Venice extends from the northern 

mouth of the Po, across the head of the gulf as far as the 
bay of Trieste ; the greater part of this extent is com- 
posed of low marshy islets and lagoons, formed by the 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 39 

many neighbouring rivers; as the Brenta (Medoacus 
major), the Adige (Athesis flumen), the Piave, the Taglia- 
mento (Tilaventum), &c. In the midst of these rises the 
once potent city of Venice, between which and the Adriatic 
— however frequently the gorgeous ceremony of marriage 
has taken place — there may now be said to have been a 
lasting, if not final divorce, although a semblance of union 
is still maintained. This singular capital is built upon 
half a hundred little islets or banks, consolidated by piles, 
and intersected in every direction by canals and smaller 
watercourses (canaletti), serving the purposes of streets 
and lanes, but navigated by the gondola ; which, notwith- 
standing its sable, hearse-like appearance, is a commodious, 
well-furnished boat, swiftly sculled by a single waterman. 

Beyond point Sdobba, the land becomes steeper and the istria. 
water deepens, as we approach the territory of Istria ; which 
is bounded on the north-west by the river Isonzo, and on 
the south by the Gulf of Quarnero ; and unlike the parts we 
have just left, has a coast which is generally bold, broken, 
and irregular, with a mountainous interior formed by an 
offset of the Julian Alps. Such, at least, are the hydro- 
graphical boundaries ; but the portion usually designated 
the Peninsula, is only about forty-five miles long. The 
chief occupation of the inhabitants, who are mostly of 
Sclavonian origin, is agriculture ; they also attend to some 
minor manufactures, and to fishing. The country produces Produce, 
in small quantities, oil, wine, fruits, corn, honey, wax, silk, 
leather, tallow, timber, and salt ; and has abundant 
quarries of freestone and marble, whence excellent lime is 
abundantly obtained by calcination. 

The chief loading-places of Istria are Castel Duino istrian 
(Pucinum Castellum), Trieste (Tergeste), Capo d' Istria 
(/Egida), Pirano, Parenzo (Parentiurn), Orsera, Rovigno, 
and Pola ; there are also many smaller resorts. Of all these, 
Trieste, a flourishing seaport, claims the pre-eminence ; 
having lately become the commercial victor of Venice, and 



40 THE ADRIATIC SEA. 

the most important of the Austrian port-marts. It has a 
very secure artificial harbour, and an outer road with a 
moderate depth of water ; but this anchorage is exposed to 
the wind from the west and south-west quarters, and 
specially subject to the violent gust called Bora. Now 

Poia. Pola is a roomy haven, with many advantages, yet, from 

the malaria on its shores, it is all but deserted ; and it is not 
a little singular, considering its position, that it should be 
exempt from the visitations of the Bora. The tonnara, or 
tunny-fishery, claims its chief marine attention, and is a 
source of considerable profit. Most of the tunnies are sent 
fresh to Venice, but the surplus is eviscerated on the spot, 
cured with the highly-prized Istrian salt, and packed off 
for general markets. It is singular that Pola still preserves 
its most ancient name, for that which the Romans gave it 
— Pietas Julia — has long disappeared. 

Croatia. The east coast of the Adriatic, from Cape Promontore 

to Ragusa, is more bold and picturesque than that of Istria, 
being flanked by numerous islands, some of considerable 
size, and others mere rocks; here exhibiting productive 
cultivation, there neglect and barrenness. The water 
between them is deep, and the shores mostly bold and 
precipitous, insomuch, that a fleet may generally work to 
within half a cable's length on either side ; and sailing 
among the sinuous channels of the Quarnero is easy and 
pleasing, except that the Bora often renders it an unsafe 

Monte navigation — nor are the gusts off Monte Maggiore, or 

' Caldero (4530 feet high), to be disregarded. Between 

Istria and Dalmatia lies the State of Croatia (Liburnia) — 

Horv'dth Orszdg of the natives — of which the principal 

coast-towns along the Morlachian shores are Fiume — the 

great seaport proper of Hungary — Porto Re, and Karlo- 

pago. Between the two latter is Segna, the whole plain of 

which was evidently once a harbour. 

Gulf of The Gulf of Quarnero (Sinus Flanaticus or Liburni- 

' cus) takes its name from the four principal islands, Cherso 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 41 

(Cripsa or Crecca), Veglia (Curicta or Cyractica), Arbe 
(Scar dona), and Pago (Cissa, afterwards Paganorum 
insula), the two latter of which are close to the mainland. 
Cherso is joined by a causeway bridge to the island and 
mount called Osero (isle), whence they are generally consi- 
dered as one; their soil is uneven and stony, but they 
abound in cattle, vines, olives, and honey; and possess, 
among other ports, the fine harbour of Lossin Piccolo, 
which is at once spacious and land-locked. Veglia is the Vegiia. 
largest, as well as the most fertile and populous of the 
Croatian group, though some of the arable grounds of Aj:be 
are in greater esteem. Pago is not more noted for the Pago, 
tortuosities of its form than for the extraordinary variability 
of its climate, and the wildness of the inhabitants. It is 
singular that those neighbours — Cherso, Osero, Lossin, 
Canidole, and Sansego — should abound with fossil bones ;* 
and there are symptoms of the whole of the islands having 
once joined the continent. It should also be recollected 
Osero was formerly A bsorus and A uxerum; whence the 
immediate isles of the vicinity were called Absyrtides. 

Leaving Croatia, we enter the province of Dalmatia, Daimatia. 
the government of which, including Ragusa, extends from 
Obrovazza — south of Karlopago — to Lastua, beyond Budua, 
the last being properly in Albania, but that there is about 
the Bocche di Cattaro a sort of variable frontier. The 
whole district is mountainous and generally barren ; though 
towards the interior there are extensive forests of timber. 
Its chief ports are Novigradi, on a sea lake ; Zara (Jadara), zara. 
the fortified capital, with a spacious harbour, well-furnished 
arsenal, and 8000 inhabitants ; Scardona on the Kerka, Scardona. 
which flows into the Adriatic near Sebenico, after forming 



* The bone-breccia of these islands appears to be identically the same 
conglomerate with those of Gibraltar, Cerigo, and other places in the 
Mediterranean. A large collection had recently been sent from Lossin 
Piccolo to Vienna, just before my arrival in that port, in which Dr. Capone, 
my informant, found relics of oxen, deer, and other rodentia. 



42 THE ADRIATIC SEA. 

several cascades and five magnificent falls in its course of 
about fifty miles : Sebenico, on the declivity of a rocky hill, 
near the lake of Kerka (Titium), is a well-built town of 

Towns and 4000 inhabitants, with a castle ; Ragosniza, a good port, 
with a poverty-struck village ; Trau (Tragurium), a town 
on the main, with a suburb on the Isle of Bua, having 3000 
inhabitants, the two connected by a mole with a draw- 
bridge for the passage of vessels ; Salona, still enjoying its 
ancient name ; Spalatro (Palatium), one of the most com- 
mercial ports of Dalmatia, is a fortified city, with a popula- 
tion of 8000 people, bearing many traces of former prospe- 
rity and Diocletian's munificence ; Almissa (Oncenum), 
at the mouth of the river Cettina (Nestus or Tilurus) ; 
Macarska (Rataneum or Rhcetinum), a little, open town, 
with a small port; Fort Opus and Sabioncello, on the 
shores of the gulf into which the Narenta empties itself ; 
the once powerful maritime city of Ragusa,* and its 
splendid canal of Calamota ; Ragusa Vecchia (Epidaurus) ; 
Cattaro, with its unique and noble broad of waters, called 
le bocche — formerly Sinus Rhizonicus — meandering amid 
precipitous mountains ; and the small ortified town and 
harbour of Budua (Buthoe). 

Aspect and The mountainous tract at the back of these towns — for 

produce. 

the most part wild, rugged, and barren — is industriously 
cultivated towards the shore. A general want of water, 
with an arid soil, however, render Dalmatia unsuitable for 
agriculture, and therefore it was of old better known for 
piracy than for commercial enterprise; yet it has long 
exported considerable quantities of corn, wine, oil, figs, 
almonds, cheese, salt, wool, brandy, maraschino and other 
liqueurs, honey, fr * i its, sardines, and tunny. There is much 
timber in the interior, but the forests near the coast have 



* Ragusa politically ceded certain portions of her territory to the Turks, 
in order to avoid a more dangerous intimacy with Venice. From the 
qualities and disposition of the inhabitants, the city has been termed the 
Paris of the Adriatic. 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 43 

been exhausted. A principal feature of the whole is the 
range called Montenegro (Czernagora), consisting chiefly Monte- 

. . negro. 

of the cretaceous or Mediterranean limestone, so extensively 
developed from the Alps to the Archipelago ; and which is 
commonly remarkable for its bare and craggy character. 
The general height is about 3000 feet, with a few higher 
summits ; and the slopes are gentle in the direction of the 
inclination of the strata, with precipices at the outcroppings, 
which give a fine variety to the scenery. It is inhabited 
by a race of hardy and warlike mountaineers, who have 
managed to maintain their independence between the 
Turks, whom they abhor, and the Austrians, for whom they 
care not ; and no man moves without his gun and poniard. 
They are under the rule of a Yladika, or Prince-Bishop, by 
whom I was received, in 1818, with marked kindness and 
hospitality, in the fortified convent of Stagnevitch, on an 
elevated slope on the south side of Mount Giurgvitch. 
This was the celebrated Peter, of the clan Petrovitz, who 
succeeded to his dignity so far back as the year 1777 ; and 
who so heroically defeated Mahmoud Pasha in 1795. His 
dominion is perhaps the only independent country in 
Europe which does not contain either a town, or any village, 
or cluster of habitations, large enough to be compared to 
one, although with a surface of more than 400 square miles. 
Conformity of religion, decorations of knighthood and 
presents from the Emperor Paul, and the distant position of 
the power, combined to induce the Montenegrini to prefer 
the friendship of Russia to that of Austria ; and the politic 
predilection was increased by the favours and courtesy of 
the Emperor Alexander. They are, however, surrounded 
by extremely jealous, and even inimical neighbours.* 



* It was here that the existence and views of the secret society, called 
the Hetaeria, for the emancipation of the Greeks, were revealed to me, and 
which, as the trial-outbreak was to occur in the Ionian islands, I was in 
duty bound to disclose to the British government, through Sir Thomas 
Maitland. This certainly placed the projects of the Hetserists in peril, but 



44 THE ADRIATIC SEA. 

Dalmatian The numerous islands appertaining to this line of coast 

islands. . . f r & 

appear to have originated in the breaking up of the lower 
grounds, by some violent action, leaving their limestone- 
summits above water : from the salient position of the pro- 
montory terminating in Point Planca, they are divided 
into two distinct groups, which the Greek geographers 
designated the Absyrtides (above-mentioned) and Libur- 
nides (Strab. vii.). They trend north-west and south-east, 
greatly longer than broad, and form various fine channels, 
here called canale, and named from the nearest adjacent 
island ; which being bold, with scarcely a hidden danger, give 
a variety of secure passages for ships between them. These 
islands are generally poorly supplied with potable water, 
and some of them suffer greatly from the want of it ; they 
are, therefore, not fertile, although scantily affording oil, 
wine, honey, wax, olives and other fruit. Some of them 
are miserably off, so that I found many families unable to 
afford themselves the use of bread, except on festivals. 
The principal islands are Scardo, Grossa (Lissa), Incoro- 
nata, Zuri (Cratece), Solta (Olynta), Brazza (Brattia), 
Lesina (Pharos), Lissa (Issa), Curzola (Corcyra Nigra 
vel Meloena), TAgosta (Tauris), Melada (Melita), and 
many smaller ones ; replete with ports and harbours, some 
of which are upon an extensive scale. South of Lissa, and 
nearly in the centre of the Adriatic Sea, stands the rocky 
Peiagosa. isle of Pelagosa, and west of the latter is Porno, a pyramidal 
rock 100 feet high, with a dangerous shoal off its north 
end: as Pelagosa is a very important sunset point of 
departure for all passing Adriatic traders to take the bear- 
ing of, I requested of Baron Prochasca, in 1818, on stated 
grounds, that a lighthouse might be erected there by the 
Austrian Government, which has been done. 



no choice was left me ; and within sixteen months afterwards I was called 
upon to co-operate with General Sir Frederic Adam, in suppressing the 
dangerous insurrection at Santa Maura. This was precisely what I had been 
informed, although the plea was about a new tax. 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 45 

Between Dalmatia and the Gulf of Lepanto, the eastern Albania, 
shores of the Adriatic are formed by the coast of Albania, 
which, in the greater part of its northern portion, is of 
moderate height, and in some places even low and un- 
wholesome, as far as Valona, or Avlona (Aulon), where it 
suddenly becomes rugged and mountainous, with precipi- 
tous cliffs descending rapidly to the sea. This is the 
Khimara range, upwards of 4000 feet high, once much Mount 

. Khimara. 

dreaded by ancient navigators as the Acro-Cerauman pro- 
montory. Some of the inland hills are so clearly seen over 
the intervening land between Durazzo and Avlona, that 
many vessels coming down this sea have been deceived, and 
consequently wrecked on Samana, the shelvy point formed Point 
by the river Toberathi, or Krevasti, the Apsus flumen of 
yore. Among those heights none is more remarkable than 
Monte Pegola, which has an altitude of 7764 feet ; and is 
perhaps thus named from being near the beds of asphaltum, 
or mineral pitch, of Selenitsa. 

The coast of Albania, though its limits are not strictly 
denned, is generally held to extend from Antivari on the 
north, to the Gulf of Lepanto on the south : the space 
between the former and Avlona answers to the ancient 
Illyricum, and Lower Albania to Epirus; both are still 
inhabited by a desperate race, who usually are at once 
soldiers and robbers. The principal Adriatic ports of this Ports, 
district are — Antivari, which is thought to have been 
named from being nearly opposite to Bari, in Italy; 
Dulcigno (Olcinium), long a nest of pirates, who by means 
of the river Boiana, frequently ravaged the shores of Lake 
Scutari ; Alessio (Lissus), a town of fishermen on the 
banks of the Drino (Drilo), the largest of the Illyrian 
rivers, which communicates with the Ocrida Lake (Lych- 
nidus Palus) ; Durazzo (Epidamnus, postea Dyr- 
rhachium), a fortified town at the head of an excelleut bay 
for anchorage ; Yalona, a very tolerable town on the east 
side of a spacious and beautiful gulf, which is rendered 



46 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 



Valona. 



Palaeste. 



Geological 
changes. 



additionally secure by the isle of Sasseno; and Port 
Palermo (Panormus), a fortified cove at the foot of the 
Khimara range. Of these places, Valona is the first in 
maritime consideration, since the bay will accommodate 
fleets with anchorage, water, wood, provisions, fish, and 
refreshments in abundance ; and its exports are timber, 
gall-nuts, corn, oil, wool, mineral pitch, and salt. The site 
of Oricum, which stood in the southern part of this bay, 
was (1818) occupied only by two or three huts, among 
vestiges of an aqueduct. 

Between Valona and Port Palermo, the coast is in- 
dented with numerous little coves, which were heretofore 
the resort of piratical vessels lying in wait for their passing 
prey : but none of them recalled the < quiet station for ships 
amidst the rocks and dangers of the Ceraunian coast/ which 
Caesar describes (Bel. Civ. iii. 6). On the hills above Aspri 
Rouga — Strada Bianca of the Italian pilots — is Paleassa, 
which may be the site of Palceste, from which Caesar 
marched in one day to Oricum, and took it. Near it is 
Chimara (Ghinuera), which gives name (Chimariots) to 
the inhabitants of the whole mountain-range. 

The basin of the Adriatic Sea seems to be a continuation 
of the original trough-shaped longitudinal valley of the Po ; 
separating the parallel ranges of elevated secondary strata 
of the Apennines, and of the Illyrian mountains. The head 
of this gulf consequently receives all the waters that flow 
from the southern descent of the Alps and the mountains of 
Carniola, between the Po and the Isonzo ; a space in which 
the sea also receives the Adige, Brenta, Piave, Livenza, the 
Tagliamento, and numerous minor streams, each carrying 
down, in freshes, enormous quantities of mud and gravel into 
the lagoons, or vast extent of shallows which border the 
intervening shore. By these means Aquileia, which once 
may have stood near the sea, has long been an inland town ; 
Adria, which was a station for the Roman fleet, is now 
more than fifteen miles inland ; and Ravenna, formerly 



THE ADRIATIC SEA. 47 

on piles surrounded by lakes and saltpans, and only- 
bearable from being purified by the tide, as Strabo says, 
is now in the midst of gardens and meadows ; while Portus 
Classis, its ancient harbour, has become a marsh four miles 
from the sea, from which it is separated by the celebrated 
Pineto, or forest of pines. Spina, with its adjacent Ostium, 
a Pelasgic town at the most southern branch of the Po, 
was, in the time of Scylax, about two miles and a half 
from the sea ; but in less than six hundred years afterwards, 
Strabo describes it as being ninety stadia, or more than 
eleven miles inland : nor could Strabo or Pliny find any 
vestiges of the two islands called Electrides, which the 
more ancient historians placed at the mouth of the Po, — 
or of the amber from which they derived their name. 

Still, although the draining of so large a portion of the 
Alps and Apennines may, with the successive depositions 
of the sea, have formed the greater part of old Lombardy,* 
and though there are many circumstances favourable to 
the encroachment of the land on the sea and rivers, I am 
not inclined to think the increase has been so great or so 
rapid as some of my Italian friends have inferred. In 
mentioning ancient ports, it is not always meant that they 
were close to the sea ; swamps, ditches, and stagnant pools 
formed, in fact, the principal feature of all the tract in 
question ; and there is nothing to prove that these marshes 
were ever covered by the Adriatic within the period of 
history. The lagoons may have been contracted, but 
Padua, as in the time of Livy, is seventeen miles from the 



* In the recent operation of boring for an Artesian well at Venice, four 
different beds of peat were passed through, at the respective depths of 18, 
29, 48, and 126 metres ; proving that at four different epochs, the surface, 
which appears to have been slowly subsiding, was covered with fresh-water 
lakes, of small depth. Again, at Adria, where it has been shown by excava- 
tion that it stands on the ruins of two former towns, the progress of alluvial 
deposits which may have occurred within a space of 3000 years, is demon- 
strated : the first town arrived at being on a level several feet below the 
present surface, exhibited Roman vestigia ; the second, at a greater depth, 
appeared to be earlier, the futile fragments being wholly Etruscan. 



river. 



48 THE SHORES AND ISLANDS 

sea, while Brondolo and Chioggia remain the same as 
described by Pliny ; and even at the delta of the Po, which 
has so vast a power in transporting mud and silt, a com- 
parison of the best old map of Ferrara, shows an increase of 
about twenty-five yards per annum between the years 1200 
and 1600, latterly accelerating; certainly a very consider- 
able rate of increment, but greatly inferior to what is now 
occurring, for instance, at the head of the Gulf of Persia. 
Assumed One more point. Scylax, who we may also remark is 
followed by Scymnus Chius, assumed a very dispropor- 
tionate extension of the Adriatic, placing its innermost 
angle near the Ister, an arm of which falls into it; and 
Pomponius Mela assumes that Istria thus derived its name. 
Apollonius Khodius — the Alexandrian poet, and no great 
authority in such a case — makes Jason's fleet fly before 
that of Mt&, across the Euxine, up the Ister, and thence 
into the Adriatic ; and the Abbate Fortis thought he per- 
ceived in the nuviatile sands of Sansego and Ossero, evidence 
of the arm which Jason descended. Having inspected the 
locality, I am as much surprised at Fortis as Pliny was at 
Cornelius Nepos, for believing in the existence of such a 
river. Aristotle seems to have believed that the fish called 
Trichias passed from the Danube into the Adriatic. 



§ 7. The Shores and Islands of Western 
Greece. 

Western ^PHIS designation is applied generally, rather than in a 
Greece. J_ strictly geographical sense, to the space between 
Avlona and Cape Malea, including the Septinsular and the 
Greek Islands — all of which have had, in our times, a 
resurrection from that political death with which, for many 
ages, they had been struck, and which, Greece being the 
land — kxt e£oxw — of enthusiastic aspiration, gave joy to 
every civilized country. 



OF WESTERN GREECE. 49 

The principal Albanian ports on the Ionian sea, after Albanian 
quitting Port Palermo, and passing the loading-place under 
Agioi Saranta (Onchesmus), are first — Butrinto (Buthro* 
turn), opening into the Channel of Corfu ; Gominitse, near 
the mouth of the Calamis (Thyamis) ; Mourtzo, the outer 
isle of which still bears the name of Sybota ; and then the 
once piratical Parga (Torone), which, with other Venetian Parga. 
possessions, was ceded to the Porte in March, 1800, by a 
treaty, in which England had no part ; but, from circum- 
stances, this cession became obligatory on the English. It 
forms no portion of my present plan to revive particulars, 
but as I was in Sir Thomas Maitland's confidence, and was 
actually at Parga after it was left by its inhabitants, as well 
as before Ali Pasha's troops were admitted, I feel it proper 
to state, that the accounts given of that unfortunate event 
in the Edinburgh Review* are completely erroneous. 

Between Parga and Previsa there are the little ports of Phanari. 
San Giovanni and Phanari, the last being at the mouth of 
the Glyki (Glykis limen and Acheron), and on the margin 
of the mountainous district of Suli, emphatically named 
Kakosouli by the Turks, from the calamities and evils they 
encountered in its subjection. Previsa (near Actium and 
Nicopolis), the chief commercial place of Lower Albania, 
stands at the mouth of the Gulf of Arta (Ambracius Gulf of 
sinus), a sheet of water navigable for vessels of the largest 
size when the bar is passed. Near the south-eastern 
extremity of the gulf, and on a hill in command of the Port 
of Kervasara, are the Cyclopian walls and other remains of 
Argus Amphilochicum ; and from thence round by Ruga 
and Yonitsa to the western point (Anactorium), the whole 
shore exhibits traces of former importance. The sanitary 
condition must at that period have been better, and the 
country morally more safe ; for now, in addition to a veer- 
and-haul government, the gulf is unhealthy during the 



* No. LXIV. Vol. 32. 



50 THE SHORES AND ISLANDS 

summer months, at which time remittent fevers of a dan- 
gerous type are common, especially in the lower grounds. 

The state of the pavement of a Koman road on the 
northern shore of the gulf, with indications marked by the 
clay-levels, and other signs of submergence, give an idea of 
local depression. Politically, the centre of this gulf is now 
the boundary between Turkish Albania and the new king- 
dom of Greece ; but agreeably to local hydrography, we 
shall continue the name of Albania to Lepanto, although 
the portion between Previsa and the River Aspropotamo 
{Achelous) is named Karnia (Acarnanice). On this coast 
we meet Port Kandela (Alyzia) ; the excellent Bay of 
Dragomestre (Astacws), once crowned by a large town and 
fortress, but now nearly deserted ; and then the embouchure 

Achelous. of the Aspropotamo, the most considerable river of Greece. 
Herodotus described it as gradually connecting the 
Echinades with Acarnania, 2300 years ago ; and Thucy- 
dides predicted (1. ii. § 102) that as the river was rapid, and 
brought down great quantities of sand, those islands must 
in time form part of the mainland. The distance between 
them and the main has become considerably contracted 
since that prediction was made ; and the present designa- 
tion of the Achelous — c White River' — is from the turbid 
tint of its muddy waters, which so whiten the sea around 
the Kurzolari (Echinades) group, that I was somewhat 
startled on first sailing through them. Oxia, the largest of 
these, and the nearest to the mainland, was probably the 
Dulichium of Homer ; but I can find no confirmation for 
the conjecture. To the south of this stream lies one of its 

Missoiun- accretions, Port Scropho ; and to the east of it is Misso- 
lunghi (Melitepalus), at the entrance of an extensive salt 
lagoon, having Natolica (Cyniapalus) at its head. With 
sufficient littoral advantages for active commerce, the 
Albanians have hitherto confined their energies to piracy 
and a petty trade in timber, oil, wool, valoni or dye acorns, 
fish, botarga, and general provisions. 



ghi. 



OF WESTERN GREECE. 51 

We now enter the Gulf of Lepanto, or Corinth (Sinus Gulf of 
Corinthiacus),eb sheet of water above seventy miles long from 
east to west, and about twelve or thirteen miles broad towards 
the middle, exclusive of the gulfs of its northern inlets under 
Parnassus and Delphi ; having bold shores, carrying from 
seven to ten fathoms close in, and a central depth of more Depth, 
than 250 fathoms — no bottom having been struck with that 
quantity of line out. The entrance of this gulf is defended 
by two castles on projecting points, which are not much 
more than a mile and a half distant from each other, and 
are known as the Dardanelles of Lepanto (Rhium and 
Antirrhium) ; the town of which name (or rather towns), 
once Naupactus, stands on the side of a hill a little within 
the northern castle called Roumili — properly Rum-ili-Kisar, 
i. e., castle of the Eoman (Greek) land. To the east of this 
place, and on the same shore of the gulf, are several bays, 
affording good anchorage for large vessels, as Salona Ports. 
(Crissa), Galaxidi (Tolophon), Aspra-Spitia (Anticyra), 
Port Sarandi (Mychos vel Tiphce) under Mount Zagora 
(Helicon), Dobrena (Thisbe), Ghermano (JZgosthena), and 
Livadostro (Creusa). The eastern extremity of the gulf 
terminates in two bays ; that of Livadostro on the north, 
that of Corinth (Corinthus) to the south, where the Morea is Corinth, 
joined to Greece by an isthmus, over which, and in the city 
of Corinth, the air is so bad, that all those inhabitants who 
can, abandon the place during the summer months. From 
the wretched dogana,* which is the sole representative of 
the once busy Lechceum, to the Morea castle, at the mouth 
of the gulf, is a comparatively depopulated district ; yet at 
Sicyon — the ruins of which are on a hill between two 
streams, the ancient Asopus and Helisson — luxury was in 
the ascendant, and there the fine arts took their birth, as 



* Before the insui'rection, my friend, Kyamil Bey, ruled in Corinth, where 
his family had governed for above a century, during which the district was 
as prosperous as any in Greece. I received much attention from him, and 
regretted his fate. 

E 2 



52 



THE SHORES AND ISLANDS 



Bura and 
Helice. 



was well testified by its illustrious citizens, Zeuxis, Lysippus, 
Apelles, and Timarchus. The present chief place of con- 

vostitsa. sideration is Yostitsa (JEgium), from whence the produce 
of the adjacent country is conveyed in boats to Patras. 
When I was there in 1820, it was a prosperous and 
busy town, the landing-place of which was marked by a 
plane tree of forty feet girth, arid 100 feet in height, around 
which were fourteen brass cocks for supplying water from the 
purest of springs ; a few months afterwards, the whole was 
desolated by the Turks, even to the destruction of this noble 
tree. Between Yostitsa and the Dardanelles of Lepanto, 
the extensive sandy point of Drepano induced a distin- 
guished antiquary to think that it marks the site where 
Bura and Helice were swallowed up, as mentioned by Pausa- 
nias (Archaics, ch. xxiv.), and Ovid (Metam. lib. xv.) ; but 
I see no reason to doubt that catastrophe's having occurred 
at the base of Mount Meliala, to the east of Yostitsa, accord- 
ing to the usual supposition. In all the lower grounds of 
this district, malaria is to be expected ; and the fine vale of 
Kalavryta is singularly unhealthy in the fall of the year. 

Directly off the coasts of Lower Albania and the Morea 
lie the Ionian Islands, or Septinsular Eepublic ; a group 
formerly subject to Yenice, but occupied during the late 
wars by different belligerents in succession, and finally 
assigned by the Congress of Yienna to the protection of 
Great Britain. The United Ionian Islands — in order of 
constitutional precedence — are Corfu (Corcyra), Cepha- 
lonia, Zante, Leucadia, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo, together 
with their numerous dependent islets. Their population 
amounts to about 200,000, all of whom have toleration in 
religion, and equal rights in the eye of the law : and these 
assuredly form the basis of true liberty. The Ionian flag 
bears the lion of St. Mark, but with that proof of especial 
protection — the British union — in the upper angle ; the 
appearance of which in those seas, was the signal of disso- 
lution to various hordes of pirates. 

Corfu. Corfu, called Korphi (in the plural) by the present 



Ionian 
Islands. 



OF WESTERN GREECE. 53 

Greeks, is the seat of government, and though of rugged 
surface, abounds with olive-trees, and has some very fertile, 
but unhealthy plains,* producing corn, oil — which is its 
chief export, wine, fruit, and flax ; and salt is obtained in 
considerable quantities by desiccation in some extensive 
and shallow lagoons, which communicate with the sea. The 
anchorage is at once roomy, convenient, and secure ; but 
Port Govino, the former arsenal, has become so unhealthy, Port 
from the increase of malaria through defective drainage, 
that its use is discontinued. The island is about thirty-five 
miles long by twelve miles at its greatest breadth ; it is 
extremely picturesque, the west shore being an abrupt pre- 
cipice, with exuberant foliage overhanging the sea. Off Fano. 
its north end there are some rocky islets, the most important 
being Fano (Othronus), which has sometimes been called 
the key of the Adriatic. 

Eight miles south of Corfu, and about ten miles west of Paxo. 
Epirus, is Paxo (Paxos), the smallest of the septinsular 
group ; steep and rocky, but well covered with olive-trees, 
producing the best oil in the Ionian Islands. Quitting its 
excellent little port, Gaio, and passing the almost desert 
isle of Anti-Paxo, we arrive at Leucadia, or Levkadhia, an 
island about sixty miles in circumference, which has long 
been called Santa Maura by the Italians ; it is very moun- Santa 
tainous, yet, being cultivated in every possible part, is 
tolerably productive, and has a considerable export of wine 
and oil. The north-east extremity of the island is separated 
from Acarnania only by a narrow channel, which is supposed 
to have been cut by the Corinthians when Leucadia was a 
peninsula. The slip of land thus severed is called the Placca, The piacca. 
and resembles a work of art, but it is a body of gravel and 
sand cemented by calcareous matter into so compact a mass, 
that excellent mill-stones are made from it. The strong 
castle of Santa Maura stands close to this, and is divided from 



* The large and fertile plain called Val di Roppa, is delineated as a 
spacious harbour in the early maps. 



54 THE SHOKES AND ISLANDS 

Amaxiki, the head town of the island, by extensive lagoons, 
which are crossed by light canoes, appropriately called 
monoxyla. Among the dependent islets, Meganisi (Aspa- 
lathia) holds the first place, as its name imports ; but since, in 
the insurrection of 1819, it became a station for spies, I was 
under the necessity of disarming the inhabitants, and, for a 
time, restricting intercourse with their neighbours. 

cepha- Cephalonia (Cephalonia) is the most considerable in ex- 

tent of all the Ionian Islands, being 180 miles in circuit, and 
its coasts are indented with deep bays and ports, of which the 
harbour of Argostoli is the most important, being spacious 
enough for the largest fleets, and secure in all winds ; on it 
stood the very ancient cities of Palle and Kranii. The 
highest elevation of the island, and indeed of the Ionian 
group, is that anciently named Mount ^Enos, the Montenero 
of modern geography, which is 5300 feet above the sea ; it 
was formerly clothed with a fine forest, of which vestiges 
still remain, but the greater part was wilfully burnt by the 
natives The destruction of timber during the conflagration 
was enormous ; and though the fire occurred before the occu- 
pation by the English, the mountain still presented a singular 
appearance of desolation when I visited it in 1820 ; nor should 
it be forgotten, that by this wanton ruin an injurious effect 
is considered to have been made on the climate. This lofty 
mountain crosses the island, the ramifications of it spread 
over the whole space, and jut out into the sea in various 
parts, forming bold headlands ; while, among the lower pro- 
jections, the valleys are tolerably well cultivated, producing 
currants, oil, cotton, fruit, wine, brandy, and liqueurs : their 
corn suffices only for half the annual consumption, the 
deficiency being supplied from the Morea ; but as there is 
a pretty sure market for their currants — which not unfre- 
quently amount to upwards of 4,000,000 lbs. in one year — 
they are not dissatisfied. 

ithaca and The small island of Ithaca stretches along the north-east 
side of Cephalonia, divided by a narrow channel clear of 



OF WESTERN GEEECE. 55 

dangers. It is a rugged, broken, calcareous mountain, yet 
carefully cultivated in all places of promise, and producing 
excellent currants, wine, and oil, which are embarked at the 
secure and — as implied by the name — deep port of Yathi. 
Between Ithaca and the mainland there are numerous little 
uninhabited islets which afford pasturage for the sheep 
and goats of the Ithacan peasants ; the principal of these 
are Atoko, Provati, Pondico, Modi, Mokri, and Oxoi. The 
northernmost of these may have been the Taphii or Teleboce 
of Homer, and the southern are the Kurzolari group 
already mentioned. Ithaca has always been called Ithaki, 
or Theaki, by the natives, thus unequivocally retaining its 
ancient name ; but the Italian geographers have dubbed it 
Val di Compare, and Cefalonia-piccola. 

South of Cephalonia, and opposite to Castel Tornese in zante. 
the Morea, lies the fine and fertile island of Zante (Zacyn- 
thus), about seventy miles in circumference, with a popula- 
tion of upwards of 40,000 souls. The aspect of Zante is 
highly picturesque : two chains of mountains, and the sea 
to the south, enclose an extensive plain of about ten or 
eleven miles in length by nearly eight broad, and beauti- 
fully interspersed with villages and country-seats. It is 
entirely covered with gardens and vineyards, producing 
corn, wine, oil, fruits, vegetables, and the currants so re- 
nowned for their excellence, as well as the quantity annually 
exported — abundant years yielding above 6,000,000 lbs. 
Moreover, the springs of mineral pitch at the end of this 
plain — opposite the small isle of Marathonisi (Marathe) — 
visited and described by Herodotus so long ago as the fifth 
century before our era, are still skimmed for economic pur- 
poses, so that about 100 tons of bitumen are procured from 
them every year. The epithet, however — 6\risi$, nemorosa 
— of Homer and Virgil, is no longer applicable to Zante, 
the only wood on the island being the olive-groves on the 
great plain. The town is on the north side of Monte Scopo 
(Elatos mons), and has a capacious mole. 



56 



THE SHORES AND ISLANDS 



stamphane. About fourteen miles to the south of Zante, lie the two 
small islets vulgarly called Stamphane' or Strivali ; on the 
largest of which there is a strongly-fortified convent, with a 
capital garden, and an abundant supply of excellent water. 
They were anciently assigned to Elis, under the name 
Strophades; but they are now the property of Zante. 

Cerigo. Quitting Zante for the remaining island included in the 

Septinsular Republic, we have to sail upwards of forty 
leagues to reach Cerigo,* the ancient Cythera, a moun- 
tainous island with well-cultivated valleys, and a fair pro- 
duce in corn, wine, oil, cotton, fruit, cattle, sheep, and goats. 
Midway between Cerigo and Candia are some lesser de- 

Cerigotto. pendent islets, of which Cerigotto (JEgilia) is the only one 
of consideration. We must now return to the mainland ; 
but further statistical details of the Seven Islands will be 
found at the end of this chapter. 

Though the arts, sciences, virtues, and glories of Greece 
have waned, and many of her river-gods have nearly ex- 
hausted their urns, still her soil, her climate, mountains, 
and valleys, remain as of old ; and though the sometimes 
mawkish ecstasy of the classic enthusiast may be eschewed, 
he is not to be envied who can traverse such a country 
without emotion. Thus, from vivid recollections, the whole 
shores of the Gulf of Corinth which we have so recently 
passed, teem with interest to scholars, patriots, and artists ; 
and we return to the southern castle of the Dardanelles of 
Lepanto, to resume the clue with invigorated incitement. 

The Morea. The Morea (Peloponnesus) has been compared in shape 
to a mulberry-leaf; but more probably it derived its name 
from the Slavonian word for maritime, though others insist 
that it is so called from this country having been the first 
to which silkworms, with the moms-tree, were imported 



* This Italianized orthography is here used, because it is adopted by the 
Ionian government, though Tzerigo (pronounced Cherigo) is used by the 
modern Greeks. It is a Slavonian name, introduced by the settlers called 
Tzacones, in the eighth and ninth centuries. 



OF WESTERN GREECE. 57 

from Persia. Its coasts are deeply indented with bays and 
islets : while the interior forms an elevated table-land, 
traversed by numerous ridges of hills, which enclose spacious 
basin-plains ; and there are also other extensive and fertile 
grounds, producing, even under imperfect culture, corn, 
cotton, silk, oil, flax, tobacco, gums, galls, currants, and 
most other fruits. Timber is obtainable, notwithstanding 
the lamentable devastation which the forests have under- 
gone, in great part by the wanton rapacity of the inhabi- 
tants themselves; and fine pines, planes, chestnuts, and 
oaks, still clothe the inland mountains, especially in 
Arkadhia (Arcadia). The acorns of the Quercus cegilops, 
sold as a mordaunt in dyeing black, and known as 
the valania of commerce, are exported in considerable 
quantities. 

From the Morea Castle, a sandy beach turns south-west- Patras - 
ward to the landing-place and mole of Patras (Patrce), 
which beautifully-situated city stands on an elevated ridge 
projecting from a declivity of Mount Voidhia (PaTiakaicum) ; 
but the grounds around are unhealthy in the season of 
malaria. The semicircular bay here presented is bold and 
clean, with gradual soundings and good anchorage all along, 
where the largest ships can ride in perfect safety. Round- 
ing Cape Papas, the south-west extremity of the Gulf of 
Patras, a deep bay is found between it and Cape Tornese, 
in the bottom bight of which are the Venetian ruins of 
Klarenza, near the ancient Gyllene, — a place said to give 
their title to the English dukes of Clarence. From Cape 
Tornese (Chelonatas prom.) to the next projecting head- 
land, Cape Katacolo, the shores are low and wooded, and 

on the summit, near the middle, stands Castel Tornese, an Castei Tor- 

... . nese * 

old Venetian fortress, with an inconsiderable village ; below 

it there is a creek that affords occasional shelter to small 

vessels, into which the Iliaco (Peneius) discharges its 

waters, after flowing through the vestiges of Palseopoli 

(Elis), and past the unhealthy town of Gastuni (CEnoe f). 



58 



THE SHORES AND ISLANDS 



Passing Cape Katacolo (Ichthys), and standing to the 
south, we enter a large open bay called the Gulf of 
Arkadhia, on the southern part of which the shores rise in 
a succession of woody hills, while the northern merges into 
the low maritime plains of the Eleia, through which flow 
the river Kufeia and its tributaries. This stream, the prin- 

Aipiieius. cipal river of the Morea, is the ancient Alpheius, the 
name of which is but slightly traceable in Rufeia ; it has 
its source a little beyond Mount Pholoe, and flowing in a 
westerly direction through the vales of Elis and Olympia* 
disembogues into the sea through a marshy beach, below 
the thriving town of Pyrgo (Pyrgi). South-eastward of 
this mouth, and below the Skala Rufeia, are the extensive 
lagoon fisheries of Giagiapha and Kaiapha : where, by good 
engineering, this river might be made to facilitate the trade 
of the interior. But the unwholesomeness of the air must 
not be forgotten. 

Passing Cape Konello (Cyparissium prom), the 
southern point of the Gulf of Arkadhia, and the coast-isle 
of Prodano (Prote), we arrive at the excellent and spacious 
harbour of Navarino (Pylus), formed by the main on the 
east, by the peninsula of Pale'o Avarino on the north, and 
in front by the long narrow isle called Sphagia (Sphacteria), 
which defends it from the sea-winds. The entrance is at 
the south end of this isle, nearly opposite to the new town 
and fortress of Navarino (Neo-Castro), which stand on a 
promontory running out from the foot of Mount Lykodamo 
(Temathia). 

Four miles and a half to the south of Navarino is the 

Modem. fortified town of Modon (Methone prius Pedasus), with the 
islands of Sapienza and Skhiza, or Cabrera ((Enussce), near 
it. The space between this and Cape Gallo (Acritas 



Prodano. 



Navarino. 



* From the probability of votive offerings to the Alpheius, at the Olympic 
games, and other sacrifices, my late friend, Sir Patrick Ross, then Governor 
of Zante, was desirous of promoting a party to drag that river in 1820. The 
Greek outbreak, in that very year, thwarted the project. 



OF WESTERN GREECE. 59 

prom.) forms a large bay, carrying deep water very nearly 
to its respective shores. Off Cape Gallo lies the isle of 
Venetico (Theganusa), with the Mourmaki rocks (Thy rides) 
to the south of it ; and at about thirty-four miles south- 
eastward of the latter is Cape Matapan (Tcenarum pi*om.), 
forming the headlands of the Gulf of Koron (Messeniacus Koron. 
sinus). Near the head of this gulf the rivers Bias and 
Pyrnatza (Pamisus) empty themselves, not far from the 
town of Kalamata (Calamce) ; between that and Matapan, 
the most noted places are Kitries (Gerenia), Porto Yitylo vityio. 
((Etylus), and Djimova, or Tzimova : the two last forming 
a united firm of very free traders, who dread nothing but 
the south-west gales, which beat dead upon their shores, and 
shut their vessels in, — yet these co-acting ' powers' cordially 
hate each other. The two sides enclosing this expanse of 
waters present widely different features : on the west stands 
the city of Koron (Mpea f), one of the most commercial 
places in the Morea, in a fertile country covered with olive 
grounds and gardens ; while the eastern side is formed by 
the mountainous and craggy declivities of Mount St. Elias, 
or Makryno (Taygetus), inhabited by the Mainotes, an Mount 
unsubdued people of the Braccio, or district of Maina, the ayge 
tract we are treating of. The shores are exceedingly bold-to, 
there being a depth of 120 fathoms at a short distance 
from the shore ; and at a league out I found 479 fathoms. 
The coast of Maina, on both sides, is serrated with coves, Maina. 
and inaccessible retreats, which till very recently were the 
resort of the most determined and barbarous pirates in the 
Mediterranean. 

Respecting the geological condition of this neighbour- Geology, 
hood, M. Bobbaye, in his memoir on the alterations pro- 
duced by the sea on calcareous rocks along the shores of 
Greece, by examining the littoral caverns worn in the lime- 
stone cliffs, and noticing the lithodomous perforations, came 
to the conclusion that there are four or five distinct ranges 
of ancient sea-cliffs, one above the other, at various eleva- 



60 SHORES ETC. OF WESTERN GREECE. 

tions in the Morea, which attest as many successive eleva- 
tions of the country. There is a volcanic mass at Modon, 
which was described by Strabo, resembling the Monte 
Nuovo near Baise, in Italy. 

Koiokythia. Rounding Cape Matapan, and between it and the isle 
of Cervi (Onugnathus), lies another spacious gulf, namely, 
that of Koiokythia (Laconicus sinus), with water altoge- 
ther deep, there being no bottom to be found with 350 
fathoms of line at two leagues from the shore, the lead only 
striking ground at a near approach. The Ma'inote shore, 
by Porto Kaio or Quaglio (Amathus), and other coves, pre- 
sents a cheerless assemblage of rugged precipices and rocky 
mountains. But after passing Marathonisi, or Fennel Isle 
(Cranae), we arrive at the head of the gulf, where the 

Eurotas. Vasili-potamo (Eurotas), or Royal River, discharges itself, 
near the three islets Trinisi (Trinasi), after its course 
through the long valley that slopes between the two ranges 
of mountains, which detach themselves from the central 
highland near Megalopolis, the principal town. These pro- 
jecting into the sea, form the promontories of Matapan 
(Tamarium) and St. Angelo, or Kavo Malea (Mated). The 
Vasili-potamo — sometimes called Iri — is navigable for 
boats at its entrance ; and on the banks of a small tributary 
about eight leagues inland, is the city of Mistra (Messe of 
Homer), an important post for the defence of the ancient 
Sparta or Lacedwmon, from which it lies about four miles, 
nearly due west. The best anchorages on the east side of 
the gulf, are Port Rupina (Asopus) and the Bay of Vatica 
(Boeaticus sinus), between Cervi and Cape St. Angelo. 



61 



§ 8. The Archipelago, Black Sea, and Levant. 

IN consequence of the hydrographical treaty I made at 
Paris in November, 1820, which is particularized in 
Part IV., my own acquaintance with the regions above 
named was restricted to a couple of cursory visits along the 
east coast of the Morea, the shores of Attica, some of the 
outermost of the Cyclades, and the west end of Candia. 
But as I possess exact information from such authorities as 
Gauttier, Beaufort, Graves, and other experienced friends, 
the rapid sketch here given may be relied upon ; at least, 
so far as it serves to fill up the proposed outline of the 
Mediterranean Sea. 

From Cape St. Angelo (Malea prom.) the east coast of East coast 
the Morea commences ; and passing the singularly situated Morea. 
town of Monembasia, commonly called Napoli di Malvasia 
(Minoa near Epidaurus Limera), it trends northward to 
the Gulf of Nauplia (Argolicus si/nus) ; and as the city of 
Argos is a mile arid a half inland, the principal town and 
port of the gulf is Napoli di Romania (Wauplia), with a 
fortress of some strength at the foot of Mount Palamides, 
admirably placed both for defence and commerce. The 
eastern side of this gulf — along the shores of the ancient 
Hermione — has many bays and islets ; and between it and 
the Gulf of iEgina, are the barren islands of Spetzia and Spetzia. 
Ydhra or Hydra (Tiparenus and Aperopia), with their de- 
pendent rocks, among which the most remarkable is that of 
Poro (Calaurea). Here the activity and industry of the 
natives have wrung advantages from sterility, proving the 
triumph of moral over physical action ; and when I visited 
them, although nearly all Greece was in a state of torpor, 
they had formed a kind of independent republic, and were 



62 



THE ARCHIPELAGO, 



Hydra. the carriers of a large portion of the Levant trade. Hydra 
then had upwards of 4000 excellent seamen, and about 150 
ships, of which no fewer than 80 were of 300 tons burden 
and upwards, and most of them well manned and armed. 
Such was the rock of which it was said, that its layer of 
soil was so thin, as not to afford the Hydriotes sufficient 
earth to bury their dead. 

From the Gulf of Nauplia we will now run round the 

MgetL-a Sea. coasts which form the periphery of the iEgean Sea, and 
afterwards glance at the numerous islands with which that 
space is studded. The name of this sea, by the way, has 
undergone various corruptions. Tradition delights in refer- 
ring its designation to the death of iEgeus ; but Strabo de- 
duces it from an islet called Mgee (Alyai). Some derive it 
from Aiycuov TrsXayos-, fancifully assumed to mean the Goat 
Sea ; but the Venetians of the Levant seem to have first 
used the term ' Arcipelago/ for it does not appear that the 
Greeks ever used such a word, nor is it likely they would. 
From that came the general use of Archipelago ; and this 
led to the Arches of English sailors ! 

Between the capes of Skyllo and Colonna (Schyllomm 
and Sunium) the Gulf of Enghia (Saronicus sinus) sepa- 
rates the Morea from the continent of Greece on the east. 
It is serrated with bays and good anchorages, the most 
frequented of which are Kalavria (Calaureia), Pidavro 
(Epidaurus), Kenkries (Cmchreice), Kalamaki (Schcenus), 
Koluri (Salamis), and the famous Porto Leone (Peirceus) 
of Athens. Nearly in the middle of this interesting gulf, 
stands the Enghia of Venetian seamen ; but Dapper is 
right in saying that name is not known to the natives 
(Archipel., p. 138), among whom it seems to have always 
borne its ancient name, JUgina. It is a hilly island with 
fertile valleys, about six leagues in circumference, and with 
a population of nearly 4000. Porto Leone, with its de- 
pendent coves (Munychia and Phalerum), though small, 
and exporting little except oil, is a very convenient and 



Gulf of 
Enghia. 



Salamis. 



Peiraeus. 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 63 

completely sheltered port for a limited number of vessels of 
size, which can ride in from four and a half to nine fathoms 
water ; at least, such were the soundings early in 1820, and 
there is not much alteration to be apprehended from the 
small percolation of the supplies now yielded by the nearly 
exhausted urns of the Cephyssus and Ilyssus. The air, 
however, of Athens is singularly dry and elastic, delicious 
and wholesome. 

Rounding Cape Colonna and the Temple of Sunium, Cape Co- 
we pass the long rocky Macronisi (Helena) and its port of 
Mandri; and at about three leagues more to the north- 
wards, we enter Port Raphti (Prasice), the finest harbour 
on the Athenian coast, taking its modern name from a 
sedent statue, considered to be in a tailor's attitude. Still 
further on, we reach the beach which margins the famous 
plain of Marathon, and arrive at the boundary of Bceotia. 
Lying along these coasts, is the island of Negropont (Maoris Negropont. 
post Euboea), the south-east point of which is Cape Mandili 
(Gercestus prom.), and the north-west is Cape Lethada 
(Genceum prom.). They are about ninety miles apart, the 
intervening land being elevated ; insomuch that Mount 
Elias, above Karystus, is 4750, and Mount Delphi (Dirphe) 
7300 feet above the sea. Negropont is separated from the 
main by the Egripo (Euripus), a channel so narrow at Euripus. 
about half its length, that the two shores are connected by 
a bridge ; whence it has been inferred that Euboea was torn 
from the Boeotian coast by an earthquake, or some other 
convulsion. Running along the outer and precipitous, iron- 
bound shores of Negropont, we find the narrow channel 
of Trikhiri separating Thessaly and the northern end of 
Euboea ; the form of which will be best understood by a 
reference to the charts. Trikhiri is a busy commercial town Trikhiri. 
on the eastern shore of the entrance to the great gulf of 
Volo (Pagaseticus sinus) ; but leaving this on our right, 
and sailing westward, we enter the bay of Zituni (Maliacus 
sinus), in the south-west angle of which, and on the side 



64 THE ARCHIPELAGO, 

Thermo- of Mount (Eta, is the celebrated pass of Thermopylae, 
Passing the Lithada islets, and turning down the channel 

Taianta. of Atalante or Talanta (Opuntius sinus), the depth of the 
water appears to correspond with the height of the land, 
for under Mount Telethrius no bottom is found with 220 
fathoms of line within half a mile of the shore It then 
shoals gradually towards Egripo, where the channel is only 
100 yards wide ; south of this it again opens out, and there 
are several good anchorages on the coast of Negropont, 
especially among the Petalio (Petalice) Islands. 

skyro. Off the middle of the outer coast is the island of Skyro 

(Scyros), which is, as some imagine ^yiupos implies, both 
rugged and rocky ; but its shores are bold-to. North- 

Khmidromi west of Skyro, and off the Trikhiri Channel, is the Khilli- 
dromi (Peparethus) group of islands, trending to the north- 
east across the entrance of the Gulf of Salonica, to the 
extent of about forty miles. These are Skiatho (Sciathus), 
the westernmost isle, Skopelo (Scopelus), Khelidromi 
(Halonesus), Sarakino, or Peristeri (Eudemia), Seanghero 
(Skandyle), Pelago (Solymnia), Ioura (Jos), Piperi (Pepa- 
rethus), and several other stony and uninhabited islets. 

Returning to the main, north of this rocky group, and 
between Cape San Dimitri (Sepias prom.) and Kassandra 
(Posidium prom.), an extensive gulf penetrates into Mace- 
donia ; at the head of which is the important harbour 
Salonica. and entrepot of Salonica (Thessalonica), a city of 60,000 
inhabitants, and one of the most commercial places in 
Turkey. The coast which forms the west side of this fine 
inlet exhibits a magnificent range of mountains, including 
Mount Plessidi (Pelion) 5200 feet high, Kissavo (Ossa) 6100 feet, 
and Elymbo (Olympus), which last is 9850 feet above the 
sea. The river Salambria (Peneus) runs through the Bogaz, 
or celebrated vale of Tempe, thence between the bases 
of Elymbo and Kissavo, and into the Gulf of Salonica : 
from the exposure of the strata in its course through 
the hills, it is suggested that some great cataclysm 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 65 

broke through the range, and drained the great basin of 

Thessaly : this being the process by which Nature has 

often contrived to get rid of lakes, and to substitute dry 

lands in lieu of them ; factas ex cequore terras — thus, in 

time, yielding bread in place offish. 

Eastward of this gulf, and separated from it by the 

peninsula of Kassandra (Pallene), the deep bay anciently 

called the Toronaicus sinus is passed, and that of Monte Monte 

. Sallt0 
Santo (Singitius sinus) entered. The latter gulf is 

divided from the following one of Contessa, or Rendina 
(Strymonicus sinus), by the Agion-oros, or Holy Moun- 
tain of the modern Greeks, the famous Athos of their fore- 
fathers. This has been considered an extraordinary mount 
in all ages ; among the ancients, from the fancies of Xerxes, 
Dinocrates, and those who told of its extravagant elevation ; 
and among the moderns, from its numerous churches, 
monasteries, and monks. Its height is now pretty well 
known to be about 6500 feet, and its summits are seen 
even from Cape Sigeum and the plain of Troy. Its pre- 
cipitous slopes descend at once into an almost unfathomable 
sea, as from 80 to 100 fathoms are carried to within a 
quarter of a mile of it ; and many trading vessels keep under 
sail while embarking their cargo of nuts and other fruit. 

The waters between Monte Santo and the Dardanelles 
are broken into two large divisions by the mountainous 
island of Tasso (Thasos) ; and the mainland is again Thasos. 
indented by the Gulfs of iEnos (Stentoris palus) and Saros 
(Melus sinus). The former receives the River Maritsa 
(Hebrus) the source of which is in the Balkan mountains 
(Hcemus) : it is navigable for large boats to Adrianople, the 
second city in Turkey. Off Saros lie the abrupt islands of 
Samothraki (Samothrace) and Imbros ; and in the mid- 
distance, between Monte Santo and the Dardanelles, is the 
quadrilateral Stalimini, or Lemno (Lemnos), with two ports, Lemnos. 
of which that on the south has considerable capacity, though 
it has not yet obtained the importance which its maritime 

F 



66 



THE ARCHIPELAGO, 



Tenedos. 



Anatolia. 



Scala. 



Smyrna. 



population would appear to demand. About six leagues to 
the south-west of this port lies the isle of Ayio-Strati 
(Nea), with a village and roadstead, and the very small 
adjoining islets, called Roubos and S. Apostoli, whence it 
had anciently a name in the plural number — Nece. It was 
sacred to Minerva, but latterly has only been notable for its 
export of velanidi, or valania. 

Running our coast-directory eastward from Saros, we shall 
pass the mouth of the Dardanelles without stopping for the 
present ; but going between the straight coast which trends 
from Cape Janizary (Sigeum) to Cape Baba (Ledum), 
and Taushan-adassi (Lagussce) or Hare isles, and Tenedos — 
which still retains its ancient name — we pass the sandy beach 
skirting the Plain of Troy, extending to the base of Mount Gar- 
garah (Ida), which is 5700 feet high. Here commences the 
western coast of Anatolia, the country of the East anciently 
called Asia Minor, which stretches away to the southwards 
as far as Cape Krio (Cnidus), and beyond it. Throughout 
its whole extent the shore is indented by a rapid succession of 
bays and coves, sprinkled with islands and islets, and teem- 
ing with anchorages and loading-places, though there is 
little trade except in timber, oil, wool, and valania. Some 
of these stations have scala as an addition to their names : 
a term signifying ladder or stairs, because such aids were 
common in harbours. This term is so much used in the 
Levant that the phrase fare scala, in the language of the 
native seamen, means to touch at any port ; and in many 
places on this coast, where the shore is very steep, there 
were nights of steps cut in the rocks, to facilitate landing. 

Among the bays and ports of this interval, the first and 
most important, in a maritime and commercial view, is 
Smyrna, the third city in Turkey, at the head of the fine 
gulf of that name. Here the population is estimated at 
not less than 70,000 ; and it is the great emporium of the 
Levantine trade. The nations of Europe have each a consul 
resident at Smyrna ; and there has long been a distinct 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 67 

quarter of the town allotted to the European inhabitants, 
who are under the especial protection of their respective 
consuls, and enjoy great privileges. The beautiful suburb 
of Bournabad is interspersed with handsome houses, in 
the midst of gardens and vineyards. Between Smyrna 
and Cape Krio are several deep bays, the first being that 
of Scala-nova (Neapolis), between which and the ruins of 
Claws on the north, the river Mendere (Caystrus), after 
flowing under the remains of Ephesus, enters the sea : 
then follow the Gulf of Mandeliyah (Bargyliacus vel 
Jassicus sinus), into which flows the tortuous Maddro 
(Meander) ; the Gulf of Kos, or Boudrum (Ceramicus 
sinus) ; and the Gulf of Doris (Doridis sinus). These, from 
the abundance of fine havens and anchorages, possess extra- 
ordinary capability, although, in a maritime and commercial 
sense, they are greatly neglected; but nothing can lessen 
their interest to the antiquary and the scholar, for the whole 
space teems with vestiges of ancient skill, energy, and power. 
Such are the shores which bound the waters of the 
Archipelago on the west, the north, and the east. The 
south is marked by a range of islands extending in a 
crescent from the Morea to Asia Minor, with its convexity 
towards the Levant Basin. The western branch of this 
curve has the large island of Candia, or Kriti (Crete), as its Candia 
bulwark, an island which, though mountainous, is fairly 
cultivated and very productive. In the centre rises Mount 
Psitoriti, from 'T^Xopsiriov (Ida), which rises to the eleva- 
tion of upwards of 6700 feet, with a bare summit, but the 
ramifications are covered with forests ; and it not only 
serves as an excellent landmark to sailors, but is also a 
means of ascertaining the state of the atmosphere, and 
consequent weather at sea. The north coast is serrated 
with ports and bays, but the south side presents nearly a 
rugged front to the on-shore winds ; passing vessels, there- 
fore, are not wont to go between the Gozze isles (Claudos 
of St. Paul), although there is ample room between them 

F 2 



68 THE ARCHIPELAGO, 

and the main. The country is singularly beautiful ; but 
although it affords wine, oil, fruit, cotton, silk, honey, wax, 
cheese, soap, liquorice, and timber for export, its trade — 
under Ottoman rule and restriction — is comparatively small 
in regard to its fertility and capacity. Candia is forty-six 
leagues long by about ten broad, at its widest part. The 
principal maritime resorts are Grabusa (Coryca), in the 
Castro or fort of which I obtained permission to make a 
station ; Canea (Cydonia) ; and from thence rounding Cape 
Maleca (Ciamon prom.) — called Acrotiri by the natives — 
we enter the most spacious harbour of the island, sailing 
between the fortified islet of Suda (Leucce) and the paleo- 
castro of Aptera. Keeping to the east we find Armyro 
(Amphimalla), Retimo (Rithymna), Candia (Cytcewni), 
Megalo-castron (Matium), Spinalonga (Chersonesus), and 
Sitia (Mia) ; all of which bear substantial evidence of the 
skill, wealth, and power of the Venetians. 
Rhodes. At the opposite or north-east portion of the crescent in 

question stands Rhodes, a very considerable island, and 
the key of the important pass which it commands. Its 
northern shores are low, rising inland to a high and tabled 
mountain ; the southern declivities of which end in a sandy 
but tolerably fertile soil. On the north-east extremity of 
the island are its two well-known harbours, over the 
entrance to the smaller of which stood the celebrated 
Colossus of brass : but Rhodes is of higher interest in a 
nautical point of view, on account of its inhabitants — who 
for ages ruled the Mediterranean Sea — having promulgated 
a very early code of Laws, which became the standard for 
the decision of controversies relative to maritime affairs 
throughout the whole of Europe. 
Scarpanto. Nearly midway from Rhodes towards Candia, the 
barrier between the Archipelago and the south-eastern part 
of the Mediterranean is completed by the mountainous and 
arid island of Scarpanto (Carpathus) and its dependants, 
Caxo (Casos), Caxopulo, with some smaller rocks : the 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 69 

word pulo is of frequent occurrence in modern Greek, and 

is merely a diminutive form — perhaps derived from the 

Latin ulus — used to express a subsidiary islet. 

The ancients, in order to systematize the wilderness Division 
. . . . . ofthe 

before them, and facilitate reference, divided the islands of islands. 

the Archipelago into two distinct portions — the Cyclades 
and the Sporades : the former were thus named from their 
lying in something like a circular position around Delos ; 
the latter signifying dispersed, from their scattered position 
along the coast of Anatolia. Those on the left of a 
navigator sailing through the middle of the iEgean towards 
the Hellespont, were considered as belonging to Europe ; 
those on the right, to Asia Minor. And this has generally 
been observed, saving that Dionysius Pariegetes, in his 
geographical hexameters, expressly claims Delos and its 
neighbours for Asia. Since the recent recognition of 
Hellenic independence, these groups may be denominated 
the Greek islands, and the Turkish. 

The Cyclades comprehend about half a hundred isles Cyclades. 
and islets, besides many smaller rocks, of which few only are 
worthy of consideration. They are generally hilly and arid, 
with a bleak aspect ; but though few of them have many 
trees, and there is a general sterile appearance, most of their 
levels and valleys are productive, especially of fruits. The 
first in modern importance is Milo (Melos), having a very Miio. 
capacious harbour, and a nautical population, from whom the 
pilots for this sea are generally selected. It is of volcanic 
origin, rising at Mount St. Elias to the height of 2000 feet, 
and though without running water, is fertile. But Axia, Axia. 
called by the Italians Naxia (Naxos), is the largest compo- 
nent of the group, of which it is styled the Queen ; it is 
without a port for shipping, but its surface is diversified by 
hills, valleys, and plains, and it is tolerably well wooded and 
watered. Paros, two leagues west of Naxia, so celebrated Paros. 
for its white marble, although possessing the best harbours 
in this sea, has but a trifling commerce, its exports being 



70 



THE ARCHIPELAGO, 



Siphanto. 



Santorini. 



Syra. 



Myconi. 



Delos. 



Andros. 



confined to a small quantity of cotton, and a little wax and 
honey. Its finest port is Naussa (A'gusa), on the north, 
but its shores are said to be so very unhealthy, from the 
malaria of the neighbouring marshes, that it is compara- 
tively deserted.* Siphanto (Siphnos) is supposed to be 
full of mineral wealth — Serpho (Seriphus) yields iron — 
Thermia (Gythnus) is valued for its mineral springs and 
excellent fruits — Policandro (Pholegandros), though rocky, 
affords good wine — Santorini or St. Irene (Thera), which, 
as well as its adjacent subsidiaries, was thrown up by vol- 
canic agency within the reach of history, some even in the 
beginning of the eighteenth century, exports wine and 
clothing — Nio (Ios), though rocky and rugged, has an in- 
dustrious population — Syra (Syros) is a place of trading 
enterprise — Tzia or Yea (Geos) has one of the finest ports 
in the Archipelago — Tino (Tenos) is a rugged but well- 
inhabited place, in good repute for honesty and industry — 
Myconi (Myconus), with its commercial population, is 
divided by a narrow channel from the small but celebrated, 
and once sacred Delos, now Sdili. There are also Argentiera 
(Gimolus), Amorgo, known by its former name, Nio (Ios), 
Stampalia (Astypalcea), Ghioura (Gyarus), Sikino (Sicinos), 
Polina (Polycegos), Skino (Schinussa), and many smaller 
islets : whilst the most northerly and one of the largest of 
the Cyclades is Andros— still retaining its ancient name ; 
fertile, but not possessing the advantage of a safe harbour, 
it was rarely visited by strangers. It is separated from 



* Sonnini, who was here in 1780, a very few years after the Russian fleet, 
under Alexis Orloff, had made the Port their station, says, that ' such is the 
rapidity with which everything is destroyed in Turkey, that not a vestige 
remained of the Muscovite works when he was there.' Now, I am assured 
by my friend, the Rev. Gr. C. Renouard, formerly our chaplain at Smyrna, 
that when he visited the place in 1815, the Russian establishments were so 
little dilapidated, that immediate occupation might have been taken : and 
even since their violent destruction in the late war of extermination, Captain 
Graves informs me that the ruins are still very extensive, and easily to be 
traced ! We shall have to return to M. Sonnini in the next chapter for 
assertions of still greater freedom. 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 71 

Negropont by a strait named the Bocca Silota, or Capo 
d'Oro passage ; but how ' Bocca Silota' came upon the maps 
and charts is a mystery, for it is neither Italian nor Greek : 
the Turkish Boghaz may have brought Boccasi, but the 
lota is unknown. Between Andros and Scio, lie the two 
dangerous rocks called Kaloyeri, which appear to have been 
thrown up by a volcano. 

The Sporades, the other great ^Egean group, are scat- Sporades. 
tered to the east of the Cyclades, with which in fact several 
of them are intermixed, where they form, as already men- 
tioned, a chain along the coast of Anatolia, between Samos 
and Rhodes inclusive ; a space comprehending the ancient 
Icarian and Carpathian seas. Of these islands, the most 
important, next to Rhodes, is Samos, the inhabitants of Samos. 
which are in higher esteem for industry than for honesty ; 
they export silk, wool, fruits, wine, and oil ; and the flanks 
of the snow-clad Mount Keris are clothed with good timber- 
trees. Patino (Patmos), interesting as the place of the Patmos. 
Apocalypse, is rugged and unproductive ; Stanco (Cos) is 
exuberantly fertile, and much frequented by traders ; Ni- Nicaria. 
caria (Icaria) is not in very great repute for industry; 
Kalolimno (Calymna) is very mountainous, and celebrated 
for its excellent honey ; and next to it is Lero (Leros), a Leros. 
stony spot, producing fine fruit. There are also the Kharki 
(Choice) islets, Piscopi (Telos), Nisari (Nisyrus), and many 
scattered smaller ones. Among these, several trachytic rocks 
have risen from the bottom of the sea, and added to the 
general number. 

Of the islands on the coast of Anatolia not included in 
the Sporades, three are entitled to be here especially named ; 
because, together with Samos, Cos, and Rhodes, political 
geography assigns them to Asia Minor. These are Mytilini 
(Lesbos), a fertile, well-wooded, and healthy island, furnished Lesbos, 
with spacious and safe harbours, whence its produce is 
largely exported ; Ipsara (Psyra), a barren rock brought ipsara. 
by the maritime energy of its natives into high importance ; 
and thirdly, Scio (Chios), covered with beautiful groves and Scio. 



72 THE ARCHIPELAGO, 

gardens, and esteemed the most fruitful and fertile spot in 
the Archipelago. This terrestrial paradise enjoyed great 
immunities from the Porte ; but the inhabitants having, 
though reluctantly, joined their brother Greeks in the recent 
insurrection, were indiscriminately massacred by their re- 
vengeful masters the Turks, and the whole island was 
reduced to one scene of hideous desolation. Indeed the 
blind and bigoted fury of their Musulman adversaries 
caused the destruction of Scio to be among the most tragic 
events of the late dreadful struggle. 

Navigation Such is the Archipelago : the navigation of which is 
Archipe- easy and pleasing enough in general, most of the islands 
being high, as well as precipitous and bold-to, with a delicious 
climate. But a good look-out must be kept, for there are 
very sudden and fresh squalls ; and at times there is much 
bad and even dangerous weather in the winter. In such 
cases, the waves, having little room to extend themselves, 
make a confused sea, rising to a considerable height, and 
breaking with fury against opposing coasts and rocks. 
Moreover, there is a very great depth of water between the 
isles — usually no bottom with 1 50 fathoms of line out, at 
a short distance from the shore. These interesting islands 
are thinly peopled, and some of them may indeed be 
considered as scarcely inhabited. There is, however, an 
animated traffic, the imports being suited to the wants and 
wishes of the islanders, to most of whom necessity has given 
a seafaring disposition ; while their own moderate but 

Produce, diversified exports consist of corn, wine, oil, raisins, olives 
and other fruits, honey, wax, wool, silk, cotton, sponges, 
iron, alum, pitch, turpentine, sulphur, salt, timber, mastic, 
gall-nuts, kermes, and velanidi. These articles enable them 
to supply much which is wanted by their more wealthy 
neighbours. 

Geological Besides the volcanic ravages at Santorin (Thera prius 
Galliste), other great geological actions and reactions have 
taken place in this sea. The long valley through which 



changes 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 73 

the Meander makes its tortuous course, was clearly once River 

lyr ipflnfl fir. 

a gulf, reaching through the present brackish lake called 
Thalassa Bastarda (Latmus sinus), which washes the ves- 
tiges of Heraclea ; besides, the whole of its soil consisting of 
both sea and river deposits, affords further evidence of the fact. 
By the action of the waters of this river * it is that the isle 
of Laide, where the Athenian fleet took up a station Laide. 
A.C. 412, must have become part of the great alluvial plain 
before Miletus, at the spot where, between the remains of 
that city and the present beach, a hill rises upwards of 300 
feet above the general level : and the inhabitants both of 
Miletus and Ephesus were repeatedly obliged to change the 
sites of their towns, and follow the receding sea. Pausanias 
(Arcadics, ch. xxxiii.) says : ' There was an island, Chrysae, at Chrysae. 
no great distance by sea from Lemnos ; where they say, 
that in this island the misfortune from the hydra happened 
to Philoctetes. The waves have overwhelmed this island 
so that it has entirely disappeared, being lost in the abyss 
of the sea. But there is another island, called Hiera, which 
at that time did not exist. So temporary are human things, 
and far from being durable/ The isle of Minoa, on the 
coast of Megara, is lost ; and the harbour of Kos has been Km 
filled up, as conjectured by Sir F. Beaufort, from the action 
of the two great currents, the one sweeping westward from 
the Levant, the other descending from the Dardanelles : 
these two meeting here, deposit the soil and materials with 
which they are fraught. Besides the silting up of Kos, they 
have raised an extensive alluvial point. But in earlier days 
this region is suspected of having experienced changes of a 
still vaster character; for many geologists have been of 
opinion, that the islands of the iEgean Sea are really only 
the summits of a country submerged by the irruption of the 



* Strabo informs us that the Meander was indictable for mischief done 
to the neighbouring lands by its floods: if any damages were granted 
against the river, they were paid by those who rented its ferries. 



74 



THE ARCHIPELAGO, 



Darda- 
nelles 



Deluge. Black Sea ; and this notion is supported by their general 
aspect, most of them appearing to have been exposed to the 
ravages of a violent inundation, which, washing away the 
soil, left only the denuded surfaces of rock. Two of the 
floods which may have effected this are on record, — namely, 
the Ogygian deluge by which Bceotia and Attica were over- 
flowed, and that which ravaged Samothrace and the coast 
of Asia Minor ; and both are usually ascribed to an irrup- 
tion of waters from the Black Sea. The Samothracian 
deluge is described in a fragment of the lost work of Strato 
of Lampsacus, which is preserved in Strabo, and which led 
Eratosthenes to investigate, though without a satisfactory 
result, the problem of the uniformity of level in all external 
seas flowing round continents. 

Returning to the Dardanelles (Hellespontus), this beau- 
tiful strait, which forms the avenue, as it were, to the Sea 
of Marmora (Propontis), separates Europe from Asia at 
this particular point ; and — unlike Homer's broad water — 
it resembles an immense river flowing majestically between 
two chains of elevated and exuberantly fertile mountains. 
It is strongly fortified, and without rocks or hidden dangers, 
having in some parts a depth of sixty fathoms, but generally 
eight or nine fathoms within a mile of the shore ; it is 
narrowed towards the middle by the opposite points of 
Sestos and Abydos, where the strait is diminished from six 

Gaiiipoii. or seven miles' breadth to 2700 yards. Passing Gallipoli 
(Gallipolis), the principal trading-town of the Dardanelles, 

sea of Mar- we enter the Sea of Marmora, so called from the modern 
name of Proconnesus, an island to the north of the peninsula 
of Artaki, formerly the well-known Cyzicus. Hence, with 
a fair wind, no further obstruction is presented to a ship's 
progress towards the ancient Demonesi, now Prinkipos or 
Prince's Islands, a group lying just beyond the southern 
point of the entrance to the Canal of Constantinople, and 
about ten miles distant from that city. 

C °no ta ie tl " Upon a point of land washed by the Sea of Marmora on 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 75 

one side, and by its port — the far-famed Golden Horn 
(Chryso-ceras) — on the other, stands the grand city of 
Constantinople (Byzantium), the Stambul of the Turks, on 
an undulating series of gentle declivities, and with a popu- 
lation of about 600,000 souls, including the suburbs of 
Galata, Pera, and Topkkana. The Golden Horn has an 
active trade by land and by water, traffic for which it is 
exceedingly well adapted, from the facilities of its excellent 
quays, and its easy ingress and egress. Moreover, the port 
constantly cleanses itself, for the current which issues from 
the Black Sea, striking against the Seraglio, or west point 
of entrance, enters the Horn on one side, and, making a 
circuit round it, sweeps out again along the opposite shore ; 
this rotatory current, combined with that produced by 
several streams of fresh water emptying themselves into the 
head of the harbour, carries off all the silt and impurities 
which would otherwise damage it and cause obstructions. 

Between Constantinople and Scutari or Uskiudar, its Thracian 
suburb on the Asiatic shore, is the entrance of the Thracian 
Bosporus, now called the Canal of Constantinople : it is 
here rather more than a mile in breadth, with depths vary- 
ing from sixteen to thirty fathoms, and the western shores 
mostly bold-to. From this mouth the channel extends, in 
a serpentine form, to the Black Sea, a distance of sixteen 
miles, never narrowing to less than half a mile, with a great 
mid-channel depth of water throughout, and a stream named 
She'itan Akandi-si, that is, Satan's Current, setting south- 
wards, at times very strong. It thus winds like a large 
river between two chains of mountains, the summits of 
which are clothed with wood, their sides with cultivation, 
and their bases with towns, villages, and fortified posts. 
The tower of Leander, Kiz Kareh-si or Lady's Castle of the Tower of 

. . . Leander. 

Turks, is on a rock in the canal, nearly opposite to Seraglio 
Point, and just off the point of Scutari ; and at the entrance 
of the Black Sea is a lighthouse on each shore, — one, the 
Roum-illi fanar, that is, European lantern or lighthouse, 



76 



THE ARCHIPELAGO, 



Cyaneae. 



Black Sea. 



Rivers. 



Depth. 



being on the ancient Panium promontorium, — the other, 
that on the Asiatic side, standing on the ancient Prom. A ncy- 
reum, so named, it is pretended, from the fragment of rock 
taken from thence by the Argonauts, to be used as the first 
anchor. The group of volcanic islets once supposed to float, 
are here yet, still retaining, among western Europeans, their 
classic name Cyaneae ; and on one are the remains of an 
altar, dedicated to Augustus: they were also called the 
Symplegades, and were the terror of ancient navigators.* 

The Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) is an inland basin 
with a margin of coast generally elevated and rocky, having 
a transverse diameter of about 650 miles from west to east, 
a conjugate one of more than 300, and an area of 172,000 
square miles. Its modern name is supposed to originate 
from the dense fogs which occasionally cover it, or the 
danger of its navigation arising from these fogs : at all 
events, it was much dreaded by the ancients, who placed 
their Cimmerian land of utter darkness on its northern 
shores. Besides the fresh water from Asia Minor, it re- 
ceives some of the largest rivers in Europe, including the 
Danube (Ister), Dnieper (Borysthenes),imd Dniester (Tyras), 
the Don (Tanais), and the Kouban ; its waters are in con- 
sequence only brackish ; and it is singular that, with such 
a large and constant accession of fresh streams continually 
pouring into it, any saltness should be retained. Its depth 
in general is great, no bottom being struck with 150 fathoms 
of line ; but off the mouth of the Danube the water deepens 
very gradually, and nearly as much so from Serpent's Isle 
by Odessa to the Crimea. The streams of the great rivers 
produce strong currents, particularly in the beginning of 
summer, when they are increased by the melting of the 



* There were several islands called the Asiatic Cyanese, near the Prom. 
Ancyreum, vaguely mentioned by Strabo, Arrian, and Dionysius Periegetes : 
according to Petr. Gyllius (De JBosporo Thracico, ii. cap. 24) they were 
rather more than seventy Roman paces (pasms) from those of Europe. 
Where are they now ? 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 77 

snows ; and when strong winds act against these Sowings, Weather. 
a chopping sea is produced, which in foggy weather is 
dangerous to small craft. Independently, however, of such 
chances, the Black Sea is free from any dangers ; having, 
with a trivial exception or two, neither islands, rocks, nor 
reefs in the general track of navigation : and almost every- 
where there are excellent anchorages, affording good riding 
for the largest ships. Its trade consists of grain, wine, Trade, 
timber, charcoal, pitch, potash, fish, caviar, isinglass, 
shagreen, salted provisions, cheese, poultry, butter, wool, 
hides, hemp, tallow, honey, tobacco, salt, iron, copper, and 
saltpetre ; but especially corn. 

The large body of water on the north-east of the Euxine, sea of 
called the Sea of Azof (Palus Mceotis), the Azak-deniz-i 
of the Turks, has a surface of rather more than 13,000 
square miles : and from the action of its rivers, its 
waters are rather brackish than salt. The navigation of 
this subdivision of the Black Sea is impeded by the freshes 
of the Don, its general shallowness, numerous shoals, and 
occasional ice ; nor can it be entered by shipping otherwise 
than by the narrow strait of Taman or Yenikaleh (New 
Castle), the ancient Cimmerian Bosporus. But notwith- 
standing these physical impediments, such are the advan- 
tages of moral exertions, that Taganrog, its chief port, is a Taganrog, 
place of considerable and increasing consequence, the value 
of its import trade in 1850 being upwards of i?380,000, and 
its exports about half a million. 

It seems agreed among cosmogonists, that the Black Geological 
Sea, at a remote period, extended much further to the east changes - 
and north than it now does, occupying the whole of the 
vast plains and steppes that surround the Caspian and the 
Sea of Aral, neither of which had then a separate existence; 
the difference of their levels having arisen at later periods. 
Their depth must probably alter materially, since the beds 
of the rivers above-mentioned are charged with an extra- 
ordinary quantity of sand and slime, which from the rapidity 



78 THE ARCHIPELAGO, 

of their course they hold in suspension till they approach 
the sea, where, spreading over a wider area, and flowing in 
a more gentle current, they deposit the substances brought 
down, so gradually that the elevation of their beds is almost 
imperceptible. Polybius, who states this as a cause for 
predicting the filling up of the Euxine in process of time, 
describes a shoal one thousand stadia in length before the 
mouth of the Ister, at one day's sail from the land : this 
having long since disappeared, has no doubt become a part 
of the delta of the Danube. The Sea of Azof has manifestly 
contracted its boundaries ; but this subject will be resumed 
in the next chapter. 

Karamania. To return to the Levant Basin. Proceeding from the 
Archipelago eastwards along the shores of Asia Minor, the 
space between Cape Symi — opposite Rhodes — and the Gulf 
of Iskanderun is called, by European geographers, the Coast 
of Karamania — from Karaman-ili, the land of Karaman 
Agha. It is broken into deep bays and gulfs, backed by 
high ranges of mountains, the Peak of Takhtahlu (table- 
topped), on the west side of the Gulf of Adalia, being 7800 
feet in height ; and beyond it, to the eastward, are the 
still higher and ever-snowy summits of Taurus. 

Between the gulfs or bays of Symi and Makri (Glaucus 
sinus), are several small ports ; but the north-west portion 
is occupied by the extensive and land-locked haven of 

Marmorice. Mermericheh or Little Marmora (Physais), the Marmorice 
of our charts, which is a beautiful basin capable of affording a 
safe anchorage to the largest fleets. This was happily proved 
by the timely refuge it gave to our weather-stricken expe- 
dition under Lord Keith and General Abercrombie : yet it 
was actually unknown to the pilots of our armament, the 
ships of which ran in before a furious gale, solely on the 
authority of a note from Sir Sidney Smith. The immedi- 
ately neighbouring harbour of Kara-aghatch, though less 

YediBurun. commodious, is easier of access ; and beyond it the Yedi- 
Burun (Cragus M.), or rugged peaks of the seven capes, 



BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 79 

below Makri, bound the bay into which the River Kodja-chai 
(Xanthus) discharges its waters, after flowing through the 
pashalik of Meis (Lycia). Between that and Cape Kheli- 
donia there are also numerous ports and creeks, whither 
ships of any size may resort and refit with safety and facility, 
the access being everywhere easy, from the boldness of the 
shores. The principal of these, Kastelorizo or Castello casteiio 
Rosso, and Port Tristomo (Three Mouths), according to 
Admiral Beaufort, ' may be considered the more valuable, 
as from hence to Syria there is but one land-locked harbour/ 
Water and refreshments, however, in the present desolate 
condition of the country, are scarcely obtainable. 

Capes Khelidonia (Sacrum prom.) and Anamur (Ana- 
murium prom), form the headlands of the large Gulf of Gv ¥°y 
Adalia, the Pamphylian Sea of the old geographers. Off 
the pitch of the former headland is a cluster of five islands, 
two of which are large, and from 400 to 500 feet high, con- 
taining some creeks, in which small vessels may be sheltered. 
Passing several coves and islets which fringe the coast under 
the magnificent mountain of Takhtahlu, we arrive at 
Adalia (Attalia vel Olbia), the largest city on this coast. 
From hence a lower shore, with occasional sandy beaches, 
extends south-eastward to Cape Anamur, where the land 
becomes bold and bluff. The produce of these parts, prin- Produce, 
cipally timber, gall-nuts, wax, honey, camel's-hair, and 
liquid storax, is usually carried to Cyprus, and thence 
re-exported : corn is embarked, though under prohibition. 

From Cape Anamur, the southernmost point of Asia 
Minor, a broken shore extends by Cape Cavaliere (Sarpe- 
don prom.), Provencal or Manavat isle, and the projecting 
sands of the ancient Zephyrium prom. — the deceitful 
Lingua di Bagascia of Frank navigators, also stigmatized 
by the Turks as Lisan-el-Kahpeh (Harlot's mouth) — to the 
Tersus-chai, river of Tarsis ; the maritime town (scala) of 
Tersus, the present representative of the once powerful 
city of Tarsus, about twelve miles inland. This river, the Tarsus. 



80 THE ARCHIPELAGO, 

Cydnus. Cydnus of old, which once received the stately galleys of 
Cleopatra, is now inaccessible to any but the smallest boat. 
To the east of it is a deserted and marshy tract of country, 
with a sandy beach, extending to Cape Kara-dutash 
(Megarsus), or black rock, where the Gulf of Iskanderun 
or Alexandretta (Issicus sinus) may be said to commence ; 
most parts of it are unwholesome to a deadly degree. In 
this bight is the boundary of Asia Minor. 

Geological The south coast of Asia Minor exhibits indications of 

changes. 

gradual changes in its littoral line, especially towards its 
eastern extremity, where the river Jaihun (Py ramus), by 
its volume of deposits, has produced an extensive arid 
plain. c The low sandy point/ says Sir Francis Beaufort, 
' pushed out by the Jyhoon, has already (1811) advanced 
six miles beyond what appears to have been the original 
line of the shore/ In the Gulf of Makry, on the contrary, 
is the stately mausoleum of a warrior, which assuredly was 
erected on the shore ; but it is now upwards of thirty yards 
from it, and the sea covers at least two feet of its base. The 
walls of Telmessus also, in the Glaucus sinus, were 
undoubtedly built originally on dry land, but are now like- 
wise surrounded by water : and at Kakara, in some places 
three or four of the lower steps of house-doors, and the 
foundations of the walls, are now beneath the surface of the 
water. Caunus, which was a seaport in the time of Strabo, 
is now two miles inland, and its harbour has become a 
fresh-water lake, from whence the waters have a fall towards 
the sea. Also the alluvial plains of Xanthus, Phineka, 
Myra, and Makry, have increased considerably in thickness 
of soil, since the time when the cities on those plains were 
flourishing. The borings of marine animals show marks of 
upheaving ; and in the Gulf of Iskanderun, are still to be 
seen the walls of a castle erected by the Saracens, now one 
mile and a half from the shore, in which there remain the 
rings to which the ships were formerly made fast. Sir 
Francis thus describes a geological effect which he examined 






BLACK SEA, AND LEVANT. 81 

at the efflux of a lake near Cape Phineka : — ' This lake is 
separated from the sea by a narrow ridge of sand and 
gravel, the shape and limits of which are evidently pre- 
scribed by the opposing efforts of the currents within, and 
of the sea without ; the former sweeps along its interior 
edge, and, perhaps, supplies it with fresh accession of matter 
from the mountains ; while the external surf rolls back the 
loose gravel, and piles it up like a wall. It was pleasing 
to observe in action, the causes which can thus enable a 
neck of fragile sand to resist the impetuosity of the ocean, 
while every day furnished instances of the most compact 
rocks yielding to its violence/ The same intelligent officer 
also noticed what he designates a 'petrified beach/ at 
several places on this coast, where the upper slopes, to 
some distance into the sea, had become a solid crust of 
pudding-stone ; for which he assigns a similar cause to that 
which is already given for the consolidation of the Sicilian 
beaches : and he adds, that ' the unwary boat that should 
mistake it for a common beach of yielding materials, and 
should run on it before a following surf, might be fatally 
apprized of its error/ 

The sea-board of Syria is an extent of about MO miles, coast of 
being bounded on the north by the mountains called yna " 
Al-Lokam {Moris Amanus), which fall precipitously into 
the sea at Cape Khynzyr (Rhossicus Scopulus), the crown 
of which (M. Pieria) is 5500 feet above the sea ; and it 
extends from the river Bay as (Issus), in the Gulf of Iskan- 
denin, to the torrent Al-'Arish, which last separates it from 
Egypt. A chain of lofty hills lines its whole length, 
receding from one to eight leagues from the shore. Among 
them Mount Lubnam, or Libanus, the far-famed Lebanon, 
rises conspicuously to the height of 7100 feet. The shores 
between Tripoli and Tyre are principally hilly ; but present 
in many places a large extent of low and flat coast, the 
plains of which suffer severely from remittent fever and 
dysentery in summer and autumn, from want of drainage. 

G 



82 THE ARCHIPELAGO. 

The most frequented ports and trading-places are, the 

iskanderun. unhealthy and dilapidated Iskanderun ; Swaidiyah on the 
Nahr-el-'A'si (Orontes) ; Latakia (Laodicea ad Mare) ; the 
fair town of Tarabolus (Tripolis), or Tripoli in the East ; 

stir. Beirut (Berytus) ; Saida (Sidori) ; Sur (Tyre) ; 'Akka or Acra 

(Ptolema'is) ; Kaipha, under Mount Carniel ; Ka'isariyah 

Jaffa. (Ccesared), a tolerable anchorage near a heap of ruins ; Jaffa 
(Joppa), the port of the western pilgrims of the Holy Land ; 
Scalona (Ascalon), and Ghazza (Gaza), which is backed by 
very fertile grounds. These places are resorted to by small 
craft only, in the fine season, for the whole is a dreaded 

Exports, lee-shore in westerly gales. The principal exports are wine, 
olives, tobacco, cotton, silk, wool, fruit, sesamum, galls, and 
medicinal plants ; but, from mismanagement, the trade is not 
brisk, — or rather, its commerce is far inferior to what, from 
its resources, might be maintained. 

Geological The sea has considerably receded from some parts of 
the coasts of Syria ; while, on the other hand, at Beirut, 
there is a tower standing in the water, and remains of the 
ancient marine works at Jaffa and Ka'isariyah are sub- 
merged. The island of Tyre is now united to the continent, 
and some portions of its peninsula bear evidence of sub- 
mergence. While this coast, on the whole, affords an 
instance of elevation, the vast adjacent valley from the 
Jordan, through El Ghor to the Gulf of Akaba — the Aulona 
of the Greeks, and Ccelo-Syria of the Romans — offers a 
most remarkable instance of the depression of land : it 
being reckoned at the Sea of Galilee to be 628 feet below 
the waters of the Mediterranean, and at the Dead Sea 
more than 1200 feet. This must have been the effect of 
what is termed some violent ' convulsion of nature/ either 
by means of fire, water, or subsidence of strata. 

Cyprus. In the north-east part of the Levantine Sea, at ten or 

twelve leagues south of the coast of Karamania, and about 
twenty leagues to the westward of Syria, is the large and 
once famous island of Cyprus (Kunpos) ; once an important 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 83 

kingdom, now a mere appanage of the Sultan's Grand 
Vizier. Its length is 140 miles, by 50 at its greatest 
breadth, narrowing gradually to the east ; it is traversed 
from east to west by a range of woody mountains, of which 
Or os Troados (Olympus), the principal summit, is 6590 feet 
above the sea. It possesses the ports of Famagusta (At- Ports. 
sinoe), Limasol, Baffa (Paphos), Larnaka, and Ghyrna 
(Geryneia), of which Famagusta is the chief. But though 
the range mentioned extends through Cyprus, the greater 
part of the island consists of fine plains, of which the soil is 
excellent; and even under imperfect cultivation yields 
corn, wine, oil, carubbas, and other fruits ; and among its Produce, 
exports are also silk, cotton, wool, morocco-leather, soda, 
salt, coloquintida, gum, laudanum, madder, cochineal, tur- 
pentine, tar, and pigments. The resources of the island 
are, however, sadly depressed by misgovernment, the Grand 
Vizier acting only by proxy. 

Having thus finished this section, which is principally 
a compilation, but from sources upon which implicit reliance 
may be placed, I now proceed to resume the result of my 
own observation and experience. 



§ 9. The North Coast of Africa. 

ALTHOUGH it has been usual to commence Egypt at Egypt. 
Tineh (Pelusium), some geographers have restored 
it to the ancient point El Arish (RhinocoTUTa), the 
southern boundary of Syria, as ordered by Joshua nearly 
3400 years ago (ch. xv. ver. 4 & 47) ; who also well described 
its position on the 'river of Egypt,' a ravine receiving the 
pluvial waters of various torrents. Between this and Tineh 
are the moving sands called by the Hebrews Shur, and by the 
Arabs Al Jofar, bordered by the Serbonian Pool, — a district 
never yet occupied by an enemy, and which, says Abulfeda, 

g2 



84 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 



is commonly known as the ' Sands of Egypt' (remel Misr). 
From this notable land-mark the shores of Egypt extend — 
at least did when I was there* — to Tlasal Kanais, about 115 
leagues to the westward (Hermea extrema) : they are gene- 
rally low and arid, with occasional vast sandy downs and 
extensive marshes, thickly sprinkled with the round hillocks 
called dhahars (rough hard backs). The central portion of 
this apparent waste is the far-famed Delta, formed by the 
mouths of the Nile, the fertilizing nurse of the whole 
country of Mizraim. The annual inundation of this bene- 
ficent river is occasioned by the periodical rains of Central 
Africa : it commences about the summer solstice and con- 
tinues till September, during which period the outpouring 
is very powerful, insomuch that fresh water may be skimmed 
off the surface of the sea, at the distance of two or three 
miles out in the offing. 

The Egyptian ports are — Damyat, or Damietta (Tami- 
athis), a trading town among the marshes of the eastern 
or Phatnitic mouth of the Nile; Rosetta, or Rashid, 
beautifully surrounded by palm-groves and gardens on the 
western or main mouth, known as the Bolbatic branch ; 
Al Bekur (Canopus), a castle and loading-place on the old 
Canopic mouth, in the bay to the west of Rosetta ; and the 
Alexandria, harbours of Alexandria, with two or three insignificant 
coves between the last-mentioned place and Ras al Kanais 
(Cape Churches). At these ports the European commerce 
of the country is carried on, and great quantities of im- 
ported goods are conveyed to markets in the interior. 
The chief exports are grain, rice, dates, fruit, cotton, flax, 
silk, fine stuffs, wool, hides, ivory, ostrich feathers, gums, 
spices, and drugs — the corn being in quantity sufficient 
still to stamp Egypt a granary ; and, unlike the time of 



Damietta. 



Rosetta. 



Trade. 



* This remark is made, because the Basha of Egypt has, since then, laid 
a kind of claim to the sovereignty of the whole coast of Marmarica, an 
extent of about 320 miles. 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 85 

Herodotus, beans are sown abundantly, and exported in 
large cargoes. The great emporium is Alexandria, a city 
and port which the late Mehemet Ali rescued from a state 
of torpid decay, and raised to maritime importance ; and 
when I visited him he had just completed that gigantic 
undertaking, the Mahmudiyeh Canal, as described in my The Great 

Canal. 

JEdes HartvielliancE, by which the trading vessels of the 
Nile avoid the dangers of the Rosetta (Boghaz) Mouth. 

It was anciently supposed that a great gulf once pene- Geology of 
trated from the Mediterranean into Egypt as far as Thebes ; 
that the isle of Pharos was at a very considerable distance 
from the main ; and that, therefore, the whole Delta is the 
gift of the Nile.* This must have been the work of many 
ages, for the general coast of Egypt, except in the secondary 
changes, — as the silting up of Damietta since the thirteenth 
century, the draining of Lake Mareotis, and the filling of 
lagoons, — still answers the description which Herodotus 
gave of it 2300 years ago. But by observing the coast 
about Gaza and Csesarea, and from thence to the Arab's 
Tower (Taposiris), a line will show the extent to which 
the Delta has advanced ; but this we must grant to be 
of a date very remote, for the currents which sweep along 
the north coast of Africa have prevented any rapid accession 
to the alluvial soil of the Egyptian shore. 

From Egypt, proceeding westward along the south Barkah. 
margin of the Mediterranean Sea, we first reach the sterile 
and uninviting coast of the desert of Barkah, which extends 
to Razatin, or Ras-er-Tyn (Cape Fig) ; but its exact boun- 
daries are very uncertain, neither the Pasha of Egypt nor the 
ruler of Tripoli having been able to tell me exactly where 
their respective dominions ended. Although the designation 
Libya was often applied to all Africa by the ancient Greeks, 



* The vast lakes recently explored by the French frigate commanded by 
Captain Bouet-Villauniez, within the Grand Bassam river, on the West 
Coast of Africa, are on the site of the deep inlet which appears on Fra 
Mauro's celebrated planisphere ; it is there designated the Golden Gulf. 



86 THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 

it was sometimes restricted to the sandy, waterless desert — 
(sitientes arenas) — between the Nile and the Cyrenaica, or 
country round Cyrene : this space was subdivided into 
Marmarica and Cyrenaica proper, the chief emporium of 

Parato- the former being Parwtonium, of which the site is trace- 
able at the present Port Mohaderah (Zygio), point Has al 
Harzeit being sometimes called Cape Baratun, a corruption 
of the ancient name. It is a curious coincidence, that 
Ptolemy's Katabathmos magnus and parva are now called 
by the Arabs 'Akabah-ei-Kibir and 'Akabah-el-Sougha'ir, 
the great and the little Descents :* the first being about 
900 feet high, and the second 500 feet; and which 
some geographers mark as the separation between Asia 
and Africa, also as the western boundary of Marmarica. 
In the sea-board of this arid space there are the spacious 

Tebruk. harbours of Tebruk (Anti Pyrgos or Tabraca), and Bom- 
bah (Bombcea vel Batrachus), with several smaller havens 
for coasters : but not a vessel plied on those waters except 
foreign ones, and even those so seldom, that Tebruk and 

Bombah. Bombah were unknown but by name when I first visited 
that coast. Indeed, between Alexandria and Benghazi 
there was not, at that day, a single native boat, or any 
means of embarkation ; a consequence of which was, that 
we found fish and seals in abundance.f 

Passing the cove at Kas-er-Tyn (Chersonesus), be- 
tween it and Benghazi is the border of the mountainous 
tract called Jebel Akhdar, with the extensive remains of 

Cyrene. Grennah, or Kureineh (Cyrene), the which, with the sea in 
front and sands in the rear, encourages the idea of its 



* Idrisi terms the first of these inclinations 'Akabah-el-Sollom, or 
staircase descent ; whence the Port Sollom and Saloume of most of the early 
Portulani. 

f I was told that the French Admiral, Gantheaume, who possessed 
great acquaintance with the Levantine shores, saved his squadron from the 
British pursuers in 1801, by getting into Tebruk, a port of which our 
officers were utterly ignorant. Had we known it, there had been no escape 
for Gantheaume ! 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 87 

having been once an island. It certainly differs in climate, 
aspect, wood, water, and resources, from all other districts 
between Syria and Tunis, well meriting its modern name, 
which expresses ' the green mountain.' On the margin of 
this space there are several small ports, but the only one 
resorted to is Dernah (Darnis), which however did not, in Demah. 
1817, possess an embar cation of any sort ; still vessels from 
Alexandria and Tripoli called there to embark honey, wool, 
wax, and butter. In the bight between the points Ras-el- 
Hilal (Naustathmus) and Cape Kasat, is Marsa Susah 
(Apollonia), a mere boat cove, though once the port of the Ports of the 

Penta- 

potent city of Cyrene, formerly so celebrated for its know- polls, 
ledge, riches, and splendour. On the hills above, at the 
height of 1990 feet, its vestiges are to be seen from sea- 
ward ; and from thence to Benghazi are extensive ruins of 
the opulent cities of Dolmeitah (Ptolemais), Taukrah 
(Teuchira), and other members of the Pentapolis. 

Between Cape Rasat (Phycus prom.) and Mesratah The Great 
(Trierium and Cephalce), is the Gulf of Sidrah (of the 
lotus), the once dreaded Syrtis major, the navigation of 
which even Strabo thought it. audacious to attempt : but 
native pilots confine the designation to the space within 
Ras Kharrah (Zuca T) and Ras Teyonas (Borium prom.) 
Our researches have deprived this extensive bight of its 
terrors, and shown that while it is comparatively free from 
danger, it is hardly worth the visits of shipping, there 
being in the whole space but one place deserving of being 
called a port, and even that is only fit for small vessels. 
Such is Benghazi (Hesperis and Berenice), an insignificant Benghazi 
fortified town, which yet derives a considerable trade by 
exporting cattle, dhurra Qtolchus sorghum), honey, wax, 
wool, and manteca, or coarse butter : to these may be 
added a little sulphur from the mines at the bottom of the 
gulf, the which has induced the Au:abs to designate this 
Syrtis Joun al Kabrit. The castle holds the whole district 
in subjugation, though it is in such a dilapidated state, that 



88 THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 

on my arrival there Halil Bey requested me to dispense 
with the usual salute, lest the concussion of the cannons 
should injure the walls ; a fact already so well recorded by 
Captain Beechey, in his excellent account of the Expedition 
round the Syrtis (page 288). 
Geological Syrtes was the name given by ancient geographers to 

clitin° r £ , s 

these two great gulfs on the northern coast of Africa — the 
Sounds of Barbary ; ' cursed and horrible places both/ says 
Philemon Holland, speaking English for Pliny. The Great 
Syrtis, that which we have now arrived at (f, pceyaAoj 2^/jt/s), 
had long been, from various obvious causes, unknown to 
navigation; insomuch that when I was first proceeding 
thither in 1816, the only information I could procure, even 
with the aid of the powerful Yussuf Basha, and his admiral, 
Murad Beis (a renegade Scotchman originally named Peter 
Lyell), proved that the gulf then was as great a bugbear as 
when the classical writers scared seamen about its fell shoals 
and whirlpools.* There can be no doubt, however, that it 
has changed its form, for it must once have penetrated 
further into the interior, and in a measure communicated 
with that great desert which separates the two potent 
human races — white and black — and gave birth to the 
fabled strife of Osiris and Typhon. Benghazi was once 



* Having placed some papers in the hands of that veteran and energetic 
geographer, Major Rennell, on my return to England, I cannot but record 
an extract of a letter which he wrote to me, dated Nassau-street, Jan. 19th, 
1821, saying, — ' My illness not having abated, I have not put pen to paper 

since I had the pleasure of seeing you till now The changes that 

have take a place (in the Syrtis) are nothing more than I supposed would take 
place at some period. Every flat coast or shoal is increasing ; which can 
only be by a conversion of sand or gravel, &c. into firm land. This has 
taken place even on our own coast — 40,000 acres of land have been 
accumulated in Romney Marsh, almost entirely by sea alluvion, which is 
marked by its having a slope inward from the coast. The surges, in 
tempests, have raised the sands of the Syrtis too high to be dissolved by the 
ordinary rise of the waters ; which is exemplified by what Mr. Smeaton told 
me concerning his adventures on the Goodwin Sands. Landing, nearly 
about low water, the surface was so compact that he found a difficulty in 
inserting an iron crow to fasten the boat to : but on the rise of tide, it would 
hardly bear a man's weight.' 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 89 

possessed of a large harbour, which may have communicated 
with the salt-water lake (Tritonis T) southward of the town. 
The deep inlet and quicksands where the Philcenorum 
Araz were erected, have disappeared, as has also the lake of 
Zuca, which Strabo mentions as disemboguing into the 
Syrtis : but the detritus of the Solocho Isles, off the western 
coast, may have formed the extensive bank of Isa, on which 
I more than once anchored, and found easy riding in rough 
winds. A little inside the beach here, a succession of large 
shallow marshes, where much salt is obtained in long blocks 
for commerce, may have been the inlet and naval station 
spoken of by Strabo. 

From the Great to the Lesser Syrtis, now the Gulf of 
Khabs, the coast of Tripoli (Oea) offers little for intercourse Tri P oli - 
by sea except the harbour of Tripoli itself, which lies nearly 
in mid-distance, and is the capital of the state of the same 
name ; and the Kegency having a sea front of upwards of 
760 miles, from Dernah to Al Biban, is of some considera- 
tion as a maritime state of Barbary. The harbour is secured 
by a chain of rocks projecting from the north-east angle of 
the town, and a sand-bank off Point Tajurah ; and here are 
imported the woollens, cottons, muslins, hardware, arms, 
and ammunition of Europe ; while the exports consist of Ex P° rts - 
cattle, leather, skins, soda, salt, natron, wax, saffron, senna, 
madder, oil, drugs, ostrich-feathers, gold-dust, ivory, gum, 
dates, and other articles of home produce, or commodities 
brought from Central Africa by the caravans. The coast, 
however, though for the most part low and shelving, is 
pretty bold-to, many parts affording good anchorage, as the 
north winds rarely blow home ; and boats may generally 
find refuge in the little ports (marsa) Zoraik, Ziliten, 
Ugrah, at the mouth of the Wadi Khahan (Cinyps), Lebidah 
(Leptis Magna), Ligatah, Tiipoli vecchio (Sabrata), Zoarah, 
al Biban (the Gate of Pisida), and Zarzis : these creeks are 
mostly the result of the action of the sea and atmosphere 
on a friable shore, and the barriers are ridges of rock 



90 



THE NOETH COAST OF AFRICA. 



Jerbah. 



Little 



Syrtis. 



Probable 
changes. 



parallel to the line of the coast, which have withstood the 
attack. But neither the sea-board nor. its details were 
known when I first visited it ; insomuch that when I was 
with Lord Exmouth's squadron in 1816, he suddenly and 
hastily weighed from before Tripoli, and beat about in a 
northerly gale, expecting worse weather, without an idea of 
the excellent anchorage he might have taken up in the 
vicinity of the Lesser Syrtis.* 

Jerbah (Meninx and Lotophagitis), an excellently culti- 
vated and rich island, separated from the mainland by a 
basin with two straits forming entrances, is the commence- 
ment of the Regency of Tunis, which extends from thence 
as far west as La Cala, or El Kalian, near Bona, a littoral 
distance of more than 570 miles. The intervening country 
is greatly diversified with mountains and valleys, fertile 
plains and arid wastes ; which are blest with one of the 
finest climates in the world, and a remarkably productive 
soil. Between Jerbah and the low group called the Kar- 
kenah (Cereina) Isles, lies the Gulf of Khabs, or the Little 
Syrtis (w [Aixpa, ^vpni), which may once have had a com- 
munication with Es Sibkhah, or the great salt plain of the 
interior, covered with water to the depth of three or four 
feet in the winter — a probable site of the Tritonis Palus 
of Herodotus. If so, a narrow strait among chains of 
eminences, and liable to very variable tides, may have con- 
founded early navigation, and rendered it, as Scylax asserts, 
even more dangerous than the Great Syrtis. But the dread 
of the ancient mariners can now be but little understood, 
since from various changes the Syrtis Minor of the ancients 
is no longer recognisable : nearly the whole remaining space 
now affords good anchoring ground and smooth water, the 



* On this occasion his lordship had embarked all the Christian captives 
save one, an Italian boy, then at the salterns of Zoara. Shortly afterwards 
I had the satisfaction of taking this boy to Malta, thereby carrying off the 
last Christian slave from Barbary. The principal of my proceedings on this 
coast, about that time, will be found in the Appendix. 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 91 

bank of Karkenah preventing the sea from rolling home ; 
and the shallows are indicated by the fishermen's palisades. 
In fact, from the unceasing operation of the sea in throwing 
up and depositing sand on a flat coast, where there is no 
river, torrent, or other back-water to sweep it away again, 
the shore must have had a continued augmentation. 

The adjacent lands were abundantly fertile by nature, 
but, until the rule of the Carthaginians, were left without 
culture ; for, in the words of Strabo, the ancient people of 
this country (the Numides or Nomades) abandoned their 
fields to savage beasts, to exhaust themselves by predatory 
warfare. The east coast of Tunis (Byzacium), though East coast 
perhaps less cultivated than when it was regarded as a 
magazine of provisions, and dignified with the title ' Em- 
poria/ is nevertheless abundantly fertile, and its tillage is 
very creditable to the Moors. The sea -board possesses 
several populous trading towns, and some excellent anchor- 
ages, to which numerous ships resort to take in the produce. 
Of these/ the places in chief consideration — from Jerbah 
northwards — are Ghabs or Khabs (Tacape T) Sfakus (Tar Towns. 
phurah), Mehadiyah or Afrikah (Turns Hannibalis), 
Lamta (Leptis parva), Monastir (Iladrumetum), Susah 
(Kabar Susis), Ehrakliyah or Herkla (Horrea Cceli), 
Hammamet (Aquce calidce), Nabal (Neapolis), Khurbah, 
(Curubis), and Calibia or Iklibiyah (Glypea). Some of 
these are of great consideration as towns in Barbary; but 
the principal is certainly the beautifully situated and 
opulent Sfakus, a place where I was most hospitably re- sfakus. 
ceived before any Christian agent had ever been established 
there ; and where my operations and journeys were viewed 
without that alarm, and inconvenient distrust, which were 
so often encountered on these shores at that time. 

The Gulf of Tunis is a deep and safe bay, lying between Bay of 
Cape Bon (Hermceum prom.), the Ras-Adar of the natives, 
and Cape Farina (Apollinis prom), which are thirteen 
leagues asunder. The site of the famous Carthage (Car- Carthage. 



92 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 



Tunis. 



Goletta. 



chedon) is within and upon the promontory of that name 
on the west side of the bay, and the space from thence to 
Tunis still exhibits vestiges of the Tyrian mistress of three 
hundred African cities and towns (besides her power in 
Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Italy itself) as well as 
of her Koman successor. Of these perhaps the most 
striking are the cisterns, the mole-basins inside of Cape 
Kamar, and the great aqueduct which conveyed water from 
the Jebel-ez-Zaghwan (Zeugitanus mons), a distance of 
fifty-two miles. But it must be conceded that the appear- 
ance of the land has greatly changed since the time of old 
Carthage, when the receding curvature of the beach threw 
the peninsula of the Byrsa more boldly out, so as to be all 
but insulated. South of the ruins of Carthage, and at the 
bottom of the bay, stands the city of Tunis (Tunetum), the 
metropolis of the Regency, with a population little short of 
150,000. It maintains a busy trade, both of import and 
export ; the produce and manufactures of the Beylik con- 
sisting of corn, oil, wool, hides, honey, wax, soap, silks, fine 
woollen cloths, shawls, fazes or scarlet skullcaps, burnuses, 
wrappers, indigo, madder-roots, orchilla, henna, senna, dates, 
ivory, coral, sponge, pottery, tobacco, morocco leather, 
ostrich feathers, cattle, sheep, and other live stock. The 
city is separated from the bay by a shallow lake of intense 
saltness, occasioned by the powerful evaporation from a 
burning sun, and the aridity of the surrounding shores. 
This lake communicates with the sea by a narrow fortified 
channel, called by seamen the Goletta, but Halk-el-Wad 
by the Moors. Off the beach divided by the Goletta, the 
largest fleets may anchor in comfortable depths of water 
and good holding-ground. Indeed, when I joined Lord 
Exmouth's squadron before Tunis in 1816, I had been 
assured that it was considered a perfect anchorage under 
proper care ; but the loss of the whole Tunisian fleet in 
March, 1820, and a heavy gale which I afterwards rode 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 93 

out, induced me to reconsider that opinion ; and on finding 
that large patches of the bottom consist of a hard clay 
which breaks short, I certainly cannot recommend it as a 
winter station where heavy ships are employed. 

On the east entrance of the gulf, rise the Zembra or zembra. 
Zawamir (jEgimurus) Isles, of which the largest is 517 
feet in height : and forty-two miles to the north of them 
are the dangerous rocks which have in recent ages been 
designated the Skerki, Squills, and Esquerques ; and which Skerki. 
appear to be the remains of the Arce mentioned by Virgil, 
upon the saxa latentia of which, three ships of the Trojan 
fleet were said to be wrecked. They are the JEginori of 
Pliny, who observes that they lie opposite Carthage, and 
between Sicily and Sardinia — in his time more like rocks 
than islands, but recorded to have been inhabited, though 
afterwards to have sunk down. There was much doubt 
among our chart-compilers as to the existence of this reef, 
until public attention was unexpectedly aroused by the 
total and melancholy loss of the Athehien, of 64 guns, and 
most of her crew, in 1804. 

Besides the road of Tunis just mentioned, the northern Port 
coast of this state has the ports of Farina or Ghar-el-Milh 
(Salt cave), the sea-margin of Ouga (Utica), now fast filling 
up by the floods and alluvia of the river Majerdah 
(Bagradas) ; and Bizerta or Beni-zart (Hippo Zarytus) — Bizerta. 
the Venice of Barbary — with two interior lakes, in the 
inner one of which (Sisaraz palus) the water is fresh ; the 
fisheries of these lakes are farmed at a high price, and are 
extremely profitable. Between this and the Algerine 
frontier, the only object of maritime interest is Tabarkah 
(Tabraca), formed by a fortified island and the river 
Ez-zeine (Rubricatus) on the main. About twenty miles 
north-north-west of Ras-al-Manshar, or Cape Serrato, lies 
the uninhabited island of Galita (Calathe), west-south-west Gaiita. 
of which are two perilous sunken rocks, on which the 



94 THE NORTH COAST OP AFRICA. 

Avenger frigate struck in December, 1847, when all hands 
but seven, and a boy, were drowned : the channels on 
either side of these rocks are both wide and safe. 

Algeria. From the Mazulah hills, which bound the regency of 

Tunis, to the river Muhiwi on the west, an interval of 670 
miles, the coast of the fine and fertile state of Algeria 
(Mauretania Ccesariensis) extends, the full capability of 
which has never, in modern times, been properly excited ; 
and of late ages its Mohammedan rulers, termed Deys 
(Dais), preferred predatory warfare, which is always 
destructive of industry, agriculture, and commerce. Yet, 
though they preyed upon and braved the power of most of 
the Christian princes around the Mediterranean, their fleet — 
both vessels and crews — was always truly contemptible as 
an organized force ; insomuch that the long sufferance of 
these barbarous and professed pirates is an anomalous 
phenomenon in the history of human polity. The origin 
of this degrading system of hostility, which, in despising 
the rules of civilization and the laws of nations, violated 
the rights of human nature, may be owing to the rancorous 
fanaticism of the Crusades; but its nearly uninterrupted 
continuation was a reproach to Christendom. It has, how- 
ever, now passed away ; and this country of physical beauty 
— though sapped by moral deformity — is now colonized by 
France ; it will, therefore, inevitably advance in civilization, 
and, consequently, in the arts and pursuits of polished life. 
It is a fine stage for the exercise of philanthropy and com- 
merce ; for when I frequented the coast, even in the depth 
of its barbarism, there were, among the exports of its 
wilfully restricted traffic — corn, pulse, olive-oil, wax, honey, 
fruits, tobacco, kermes, live stock of all kinds, hides, wool, 
skins of wild beasts, coral, timber, charcoal, and ostrich 
feathers black, white, and grey. 

Eastern The principal loading-places on the eastern coast of 

Algeria are — La Kalah (Nalpotes), Bastion of France (ad 
Dianam), Bona (Hippo Regius), Storah (Rusicada), in the 



ports. 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 95 

gulf anciently termed the Sinus Numidicus, Kolah (Gulla 
and Gollops Magnus), the coves under Ras Sebah Rus 
(Tretum prom.) and at Wad al Kabir, or great river, 
Zergeli or Jijel (Igilgilis), Bujeiyah Portus Saldce), Mersa 
Fahm or Zufun (Audus), Tedlez (Rusucurrium), and 
Marsa Zinet. Passing this, and rounding Cape Matafuz or 
Temedfus, we enter the great Bay of Algiers, or Al-Jezairat, Algiers. 
the characteristics of which are, bold shores, deep water, 
and excellent holding bottom ; but it is not mentioned in 
early writings, the present name being derived from the 
islet before the town. On the western side of this bay, 
stands conspicuously the renowned city of that name, with 
its mole, forts, lighthouse, and Kasbah ; surrounded by 
beautifully diversified hills, valleys, gardens, groves, and 
villas. Weighing from Algiers, and passing Cape Caxines 
or Ras Al-Kanatir (Iomnium), to stand to the westward, 
there is a rocky and precipitous coast, mostly bold-to ; and 
we find in succession the ports and creeks named Sidi Ferej western 
(Via), Tfesud (Tipasa), Nakous (Coesarea), Shershel or 
Zerzahal (Icosium), Nakkous (Iol and Julia Cossaria), 
Dniss or Tennez (Gartenna), Marsa Goleit, Musta-ganem 
(Murustaga), Arzau (Arsenaria and Deorum portus), 
Wahran or Oran (Quiza), Marsa Kibir (Portus magnus), 
within Ras al Harsbah (Metagonium prom.), and Ishgun 
(Acra). The energy of the French, and the use of steam, 
will doubtless increase the number of these ports as increase 
of trade shall require, for the whole coast of Algeria affords 
abundant materials for commercial enterprise. 

We now approach the outermost of the Barbary States, Morocco, 
the which has — from its having been formed by the union 
of various small kingdoms, or, rather, large provinces — been 
known as the Empire of Morocco, or MogJirib-al-akza, the 
farthest west; being a remnant of the great ALfrican 
monarchies formed by the Saracens in Mauritania. Anarchy 
and intestine discords have reduced its boundaries, but it is 
still possessed of a surface equal to that of Spain ; while 



96 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 



Mount 
Atlas. 



Produce. 



The Mu- 
luwi. 



its Mediterranean coast — from Ceuta to the river Muluwi — 
is 220 miles, which is not one-third of its sea-board. It is 
finely diversified with hills and valleys, a great part of 
which have never been visited by Europeans ; and there are 
many rivers flowing from the great Atlas range of moun- 
tains which traverses the empire in its greatest length, and 
attains the snow-clad height of nearly 13,000 feet, modify- 
ing the aspect, soil, and climate of the whole region. Those 
rivers disembogue into the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic 
Ocean, the large ones forming bar-harbours, which, though 
now so neglected as only to admit of small vessels entering 
them, may some day be converted into good stations for 
steamers. A ramification of the great mountain-range 
turns to the north, and is there known as the Lesser Atlas, 
of which Ape's Hill (Abyla), opposite Gibraltar, may be 
deemed the northern scarp. The climate of Morocco is at 
once mild and salubrious ; and the soil, where cultivated, 
is in the highest degree fertile ; but there are everywhere 
large tracts entirely uncultivated. Corn, dhurra, rice, maize, 
and pulse are extensively reared in most of the plain 
districts ; there are raised and collected, oil, cotton, tobacco, 
indigo, sesamum, gum, honey, wax, fruits, horses, cattle, 
poultry, sheep, salt, saltpetre, hemp, saffron, and madder- 
roots ; and they have also manufactories of linen, silk, 
hayiks, skullcaps, morocco - leather, slippers, barracans, 
burnuses, shawls, carpets, soap, earthenware, and hides. 
The declivities of the mountains are sprinkled with forests, 
in which the cedar, cork, ilex, carubba, walnut, acacia, and 
olive trees are prominent ; and though iron, copper, lead, 
and antimony, as well as gold and silver, have been pro- 
duced to a certain extent, the mineral wealth of these 
mountains may be said to be as yet unknown. It is truly 
a luxuriant yet indigent country, surpassingly favoured by 
nature, but blindly neglected by man. 

The river Muluwi, or Muluwyah (Molochatk), which, as 
anciently, divides Algeria from Morocco (Mauretania from 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 97 

Tingitana), and is therefore of political importance; it 
rises at or near the southern extremity of the lower chain 
of Atlas, and flowing through a diversified country as yet 
almost untrodden by Europeans, falls into the sea nearly in 
the middle of the bay at which we have arrived, the Gulf of 
Melilah of our charts. About ten miles to the north-west 
of the mouth of the Muluwyah lies the Zaphran, or Ja'ferei Zaphran 
group, consisting of three rocky uninhabited islets, the 
highest of which is upwards of 400 feet above the level of 
the sea; they afford good anchorage to ships taking refuge 
there in stormy weather, and, from the goodness of the 
ground, there is no danger of bringing home the anchors. 
About thirty miles distant from these rocks, on a north- 
west by west rhumb, is Cape Tres Forcas (Mitagonitis 
prom.) of the Spanish pilots, called Ras-ud-Dehir (Cape of 
the Monastery) by the natives; and in the bight formed 
between it and the Muluwi, stands the Spanish penal 
fortress Melilah (Rusadir), a Moor-bound space, with Meiiiah. 
barely a pistol-shot range of territory. Deeper still in the 
bay is the great salt-lake Resifah, an excellent port till 
1755, when an earthquake stopped up the entrance. 

In mid-distance between Cape Tres Forcas and the 
coast of Spain, lies the steep rocky islet Alboran, which has Alboran 
usually been assigned by geographers to Barbary; while 
some of the chart-compilers omit it altogether. Indeed, 
such was our ignorance till lately, that this sterile rock, 
with hardly anything of animal or vegetable life about it, 
has been more than once represented as a desirable place 
for a settlement; and so late as the year 1813, the Naval 
Chronicle published a view of it, and described the ima- 
ginary inhabitants as subsisting chiefly by fishing ! 

Westward of Cape Tres Forcas, which is the termination 
of an offset of the secondary chain of the mighty Atlas 
mountains, on passing Tiraka (Tcenia Longa), and stand- 
ing across the bay of Mezemmah, or Al Buzema, we perceive ai Buzem* 
a rock (Sex insula) on which the Spaniards possess a 

H 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 



Pefion de 
Velez. 



Tetuan 
Bay. 



Mostaza. 



Ceuta. 



petty post, which, is kept under greater restriction by the 
Moors, if possible, than Melilah. About eight leagues 
further to the westward is another of the Spanish presidios, 
the fortress of Pefion de Velez (Parietina), an elevated 
islet surrounded by strong works; which, being nearly 
inaccessible, is therefore held to be impregnable. In these 
presidios the garrison and the forzati, or condemned 
elons, seem to be almost equal sufferers. 

To the north-west of the Penou, at the distance of about 
twenty-two leagues, is Ceuta, or Sebtah, the principal of 
the Spanish presidios, and the eastern extreme of the 
south shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. Though the whole 
of the intervening bight is called the Bay of Tetuan, that 
name is also applied in a restricted sense to the anchorage 
before the populous city of Titawan — commonly, Tetuan 
(Jagath) — between the Capes Negro and Mazari, where 
our ships have often found shelter from south-west gales, 
and procured provisions and refreshments. In 1799, a 
fleet of seventeen sail of the line, under Lord Keith, 
watered there without any loss of time; but an unexpected 
impediment threatened the further supplies. Although so 
near Gibraltar, with whose merchants the Barbary Jews 
carry on a pretty considerable commerce, our admiral could 
not get fresh provisions and stock in exchange for his 
Government bills, and must have proceeded to the siege of 
Cadiz without refreshments, had not an English merchant 
happened to put into Tetuan for protection, with a few 
thousand Spanish dollars on board. Between Tetuan and the 
Pefion, the country is inhabited mostly by Moors; there is 
no town of any consequence upon the coast, and it is equally 
destitute of harbours, the only place resorted to by coasters 
being Mostaza, where grain, cattle, honey, wax, and other 
produce, are embarked, as well as camlets, barracans, mats, 
pottery, and the various articles of Tetuan and other native 
manufacture. 

On the peninsula of Ceuta {Exclissa and Septa) is a 



THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 99 

fortress opposite to Gibraltar, which seems, like it, to be 
impregnable by land. West of this are the fine cliffs of a 
mountain, 2200 feet high, known by us as Ape's Hill, the 
Sierra Bullones of the Spaniards, and Jebel Mousa and 
Thattith of the Moors (Mons Abyla). From Ape's Hill to m. Abyia, 
Tanjah, or Tangier (Tmgis), a fortified town no longer a 
place of importance, the coast is broken by alternate cliffs 
and coves, some of which look tempting enough for landing 
at, but strangers are immediately fired upon by the Moors 
in ambush, disembarkation except at the regular towns 
being strictly prohibited. Leaving the anchorage at Tangier, Tangier, 
and still standing to the westward, a bold shore presents 
itself under an uncultivated and arid aspect, as far as the 
fine headland called by the natives Ras-el-shukkar, or Red- 
flower point, and by us Cape Spartel (Ampelusia); which 
forms the north-west point of Morocco, and western entry 
of the Strait of Gibraltar. 

From Cape Spartel to the south-south-west, as far as west coast 
Arzila (Zilis), the coast-line is a flat, sandy, and shingly rocco. 
beach, rising in the interior to a fine grazing country, 
but bearing a barren and deserted appearance. Off this 
part, and especially opposite the bight called Jeremiyah, 
there is good anchorage with easterly winds, to be chosen 
by the lead, there being no sea-danger ; and the whole is 
safe and bold to Al Haratch, or Larache (Lixus). But 
during those winds the water is smooth, and ships may keep 
under very easy canvas ; as we experienced in the summer 
of 1811, when cruising off Cape Spartel with a squadron of 
four sail of the line and some smaller vessels, under the 
command of that excellent seaman, Rear-Admiral Sir 
Richard Goodwin Keats. 

Such being the periphery of this not less interesting 
than extensive inland sheet of water, we must next proceed 
to consider its surface : though, before we entirely conclude 
our chorographical sketch, an account of the declared value 

H 2 



Mediterra- 
nean 
commerce. 



English 



100 THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA. 

of British produce and manufactures annually exported 
from the United Kingdom to the Mediterranean, may give 
a synthetical view of our commercial relations in that sea. 
Moreover, figures confer accuracy upon expression : ' to 
count/ observes Dr. Johnson, ' is a modern practice ; the 
ancient method was to guess, and when numbers are 
guessed, they are always augmented/ The mean of the 
various obtainable returns for the years 1820 to 1824 was — 

Spain and the Balearic islands £582,891 

Gibraltar 993,700 

France and Corsica 312,866 

Italy and the Italian islands 2,391,620 

Malta 425,500 

Ionian islands 323,650 

Turkey and Continental Greece 989,260 

Morea and Greek islands 32,000 

Syria and Palestine 191,280 

Egypt 257,760 

Barbary and Morocco 51, 600 

For the English reader, it may be proper to add a few 
more statistical details respecting our own possessions on 
the shores of the Mediterranean, in order to prove their 
claim to the national regard. They are drawn up from 
various inquiries in proper quarters, and official returns 
procured for me by my friend the late estimable Mr. G. R 
Porter, of the Board of Trade, reduced, as nearly as possible, 
to the close of the year 1824. In the following tables the 
islands of Malta and Gozo are included together, and the 
whole of the Septinsular Republic under the head of Corfu ; 
a form adopted because the public returns are made from 
the chief city, or head-quarters of each garrison. And it 
will be borne in mind, that the respective forces (Table II, 
page 103) at each place are, of course, on the graduated 
peace establishment. 

Here the mind is led to perceive how civilization en- 
hances human enjoyment, by increasing the resources of a 
country. It is rather the industry exercised on the districts 
occupied, than their extent of area, which develops riches 
and power. 



THE BRITISH DEPENDENCIES. 



101 



TABLE I. — STATISTICS. 



NOTANDA. 


GlBEALTAE. 


Malta. 


Coepu. 


Superficial area j S( * '^' 
(males 


n 


125 


1,059 


4,790 


46,180 


112,500 


■r, i ■• 1 females 
Population . y aUem 


5,560 


49,300 


98,240 


4,780 


6,170 


10,780 


[ total 


15,130 


101,650 


221,520 


Chief Town . . . name 


Gibraltar. 


Valetta. 


Corfu. 


Inhabitants of do. number 


15,130 


46,250 


21,400 


Public educational ex- ) « 
pense .... 


740 


2,090 


6,880 


Shipping from 


number 


169 


38 


23 


Great Britain 


tons 


23,567 


7,870 


6,750 


Ditto inwards . 


number 
tons 


37 
6,500 


26 
4,805 


53 

7,930 


Value of Commercial } £ 

imports ) 

Ditto exports . . . £ 


1,041,600 


300,700 


43,300 


variable. 


200,000 


510,000 


Colonial Revenue . . £ 


30,000 


109,800 


202,500 


Expense to Great Britain, £ 


146,000 


1.00,000 


82,000 


Ground in crop . . acres 


70 


53,670 


271,890 


Uncultivated land . acres 


750 


47,350 


219,440 


f Horses, mules, 
^jl and asses . number 








none 


4,910 


13,810 


on Horned cattle number 


reared 


5,560 


11,200 


go Sheep . . . number 


in the 


8,992 


88,520 


I Goats . . . number 


garrison. 


3,150 


70,500 


Property annually ) „ 
created . . . . ( 


72,000 


850,000 


2,080,000 


Do. moveable and irre- ) £ 
moveable . . . ) 


1,500,000 


3,755,000 


10,950,000 


Acquisition of . . date 


a.d. 1704 


A.D. 1800 


A.D. 1815 


Right of possession . . by 


conquest. 


treaty. 


treaty. 



On showing the above tabulated items to Mr. Porter, 
who was then diligently occupied in compiling those admir- 
able Statistics of the Empire which have since been 
published in extenso at the public expense, he kindly 
examined them, and made comparisons with documents 
in his office. He also supplied me with the Government 
returns of the agricultural produce of Malta and the Ionian 
Islands for the year 1839 ; assuring me, at the same time, 
that the document had his full confidence : 



102 



THE BRITISH DEPENDENCIES. 



MALTA AND GOZO. 



Description. Area. 

Wheat 9,951 acres 

Meslin 9,144 

Barley 4,051 

Pulse 3,206 

Sesamum .... 493 

Garden produce . . 4,345 

Cumin seeds ... 418 

Cotton 10,898 

Forage 7,594 

Pasture 4,670 



In crop 
Uncultivated 

Total . 



54,716 
46,810 



Produce. 
17,453 quarters 
26,042 
11,641 
7,614 
488 
125,816 civts. 
1,461 
32,602 
208,778 bushels. 



101,526 acres. 



THE IONIAN ISLANDS. 

Description. Area. Produce. 

Wheat 14,404 acres ... 47,266 bushels 

Barley, maize, and meslin . 24,471 ,j, ... 115,997 „ 

Oats 4,474 „ ... 18,651 , 

Currants 17,332 „ ... 15,255,980 lbs. 

Olive oil 94,038 „ ... 75,005 barrels 

Wine 61,267 „ ... 209,270 „ 

Cotton 1,6404 „ ... 45,620 lbs. 

Flax 1,847. „ ... 69,118 „ 

Pulse 4,676 „ ... 13,125 bushel 

Pasture 35,204 

Salt (extensive) ... 194,000 Tcilom. 

In crop 255,912| 

Uncultivated .... 228,949^ 

Total 484,862 acres. 



In the two following Tables, the figures of Mr. Porter and 
mine differed a little, being drawn from different sources; 
but they substantially present the same view, which is the 
object of their insertion. 



THE BRITISH DEPENDENCIES. 
TABLE II. — GAEEISONS. 



103 



Details. 


GlBEALTAE. 


Malta. 


1 

COEFU. 


Field Officers . . . 


12 


9 


15 


Captains .... 








32 


16 


32 


Lieutenants . . . 








44 


26 


45 


Ensigns . 








24 


17 


29 


Paymasters . . 








5 


3 


5 


Adjutants . . 








4 


3 


4 


Quartermasters 








5 


3 


5 


Medical Officers 








8 


5 


10 


Sergeants . . 








149 


89 


170 


Drummers . . 








60 


37 


69 


Rank and File . 








2987 


2132 


3506 


Total . 








3330 


2342 


3890 



TABLE ILL — MAEKET PEICES. 



Aeticles (1821). 


GlBEALTAE. 


Malta. 


Coefu. 




s. d. 


s. d. 


s. d. 


Beef .... per lb. 


6 


4 


3 


Mutton . . . per lb. 


41 


4| 


34 


Veal .... per lb. 


8 


5f 


6 


Pork .... per lb. 


3i 


3 


3± 


Ham .... per lb. 


6i 


6 


5 


Supressada . . per lb. 


10 


8i 


9 


Tunny salted . per lb. 


5 


4 


51 


Turkeys .... each 


5 6 


6 6 


6 


Geese each 


3 


3 2 


2 10 


Ducks each 


1 4 


1 6 


1 2 


Fowls each 


1 5 


1 4 


1 2 


Eggs . . . per dozen 


9 


51 


7i 


Butter .... per lb. 


101 


8 


1 Of 


Lard .... per lb. 


6 


5 


6 


Cheese {common) per lb. 


4f 


Z% 


4 


Bread .... per lb. 


o H 


n 


If 


Flour .... per lb. 


3 


2i 


24 


Rice .... per lb. 


2f 


2 


9 2| 


Beans {dry) . per bushel 


2 


1 8 


2 


Wine . . . per pint 


2 


ii 


2 


Oil .... per pint 


5 


6£ 


4| 


Milk . . . per pint 


3 


2£ 


2 


Common labour \ m ^ 8 
Common red wine bottle 


3 


1 4 


1 5 


2 


24 


Charcoal . per 100 lbs. 


1 2 


1 2 


11 


Firewood . per 100 lbs. 


6 8 


8 6 


6 6 


Fruit and vegetables . . 


cheap. 


cheap. 


cheap. 


Groceries and spices . . 


reasonable. 


reasonable. 


reasonable. 


Salt and tobacco . . . 


gabelled. 


gabelled. 


gabelled. 



PART II. 

OF THE CURRENTS, TIDES, AND WATERS OF 
THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. 



§ 1. Preliminary Matter. 

Mediterra- TTTE have seen the boundaries of the Mediterranean Sea, 

nean level, yl 

T f the surface of which, generally speaking, must have 
maintained nearly the same level for at least 2500 years ; 
and as the low coasts are not liable to be overflowed, a 
comparative permanence of periphery may be expected. 
For although there are vestiges of submerged buildings in 
various places — as at Santo Stefano (Portus Domitianus) 
in Tuscany, Capo d' Anzio (Antium), Alexandria (or rather 
Ccmopus), and other places — still the same waters show 
the piers of Caligula's Bridge (despite the numerous mol- 
lusk or sea-worm borings, which indicate that it has not 
been left untouched the while) at almost the same height 
above the Bay of Puteoli, as they were upwards of 1800 
years ago ; and there are similar silent but undeniable 
witnesses in the marine works at Marseilles, Genoa, Civita 
Vecchia (Centwm-cellce), Navarin, Makri (Telmissus), and 
many ancient moles and littoral edifices which I have 
examined. It is therefore probable that occasional eleva- 
tions and depressions of the bed of the sea have periodically 
compensated each other, as asserted so long since by Aris- 
totle ; nor, indeed, is it possible that any great difference 
can exist, since, under extraordinary evaporation, or sus- 
pension of supply from rivers, the equilibrium must be 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 105 

restored within a very few feet by the ceaseless flowing 
inwards of the oceanic waters.* In this action, both the 
greatness of the aqueous volume, and its peculiar properties 
as a liquid amenable to the power of gravitation in every 
particle, give the full power of reciprocation and constancy. 

These remarks relate rather to the progressive changes Ge r e 1 ^ g a 1 rkL 
which are clearly indicated as being in actual operation, 
than to the more archaic and violent convulsions which, by 
internal forces, have elevated vast continents, as appears 
to be shown by the remains of sea-life at great heights in 
the fossiliferous beds of the tertiary formation. Indeed, it 
is sufficiently evident that the energies of the volcano, the 
earthquake, and the torrent, have been for ages in mighty 
action on those shores ; large tracts of which exhibit the 
effects of such subversive agents during a long series of ages. 
The present outer crust of the earth seems to repose on an 
unstable basis, and it is obvious that the outlines and con- 
sequent areas of land and sea are variable and displaceable, 
and that they actually have been displaced ; but whether 
any momentous disproportion has occurred through unequal 
agencies during the process, is at present an undecided 
question. Much that is still at work depends on the slope 
with which the land and sea meet, the nature of the mate- 
rials composing the coast, and the usual set of the local 
tides and currents ; and the workings of those ought to be 
constantly attended to. The investigation into the causes 
of such changes belongs to the geologist ; yet the geologist, 
in future, must receive his basis from the maritime sur- 
veyor. The treating of currents and tides may therefore be 
ushered in by such normal considerations as my inquiries 



* Dolomieu thought the shores a foot lower near Alexandria, than in the 
time of the Ptolemies ; but he must have overlooked a few circumstances 
respecting the rocks, the ruins, and the excavated baths, which strongly 
militate against his supposition. Indeed, relics under water, and adjacent 
ports full of sand, are not uncommon on these shores ; and we are every- 
where struck with evidences of places historically very ancient, but geolo- 
gically recent. 



zone. 



106 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

and labours led me to observe, in order to make an approach 
to the actual depth, mean temperature, density, saltness, 
and specific gravity of the Mediterranean Sea. Such topics, 
by opening the arcana of the penetration of solar light and 
the propagation of heat, will, in the end, infallibly furnish 
materials for ascertaining the habitats of many tribes of 
marine animals, and the distribution of living beings in the 
sea ; points so important to know, but till recently neglected, 
or very imperfectly regarded. 
Vh llnT an ^"' ie g reat alternating body of force, in the agencies 
alluded to, has been the wonderful Phlegrsean region ob- 
served to extend from the east about 1000 miles to the 
west ; that is, from the borders of the Caspian Sea to the 
Azores, and perhaps from thence to TenerifTe. This zone 
is arbitrarily considered as about ten degrees in breadth, 
and certainly is well marked by points of eruption, earth- 
quake-shaken districts, and other symptoms of igneous 
action throughout. This may be instanced on the north 
and centre of the zone by the hot springs and violent com- 
motions at Tiflis, Ararat, Azof, Constantinople, Palestine, 
Smyrna, Santorin, Milo, Modon, Mount Majella, Vesuvius, 
Lipari, Stromboli, Etna, Sardinia, the Colombretes off Va- 
lencia, Olot in Catalonia, and Lisbon. On the south extreme 
the marks are fewer, but I found indications of volcanic 
action in the Ghariyan hills to the south of Tripoli, and on 
my journey to Ghirzah passed over a black and forbidding 
tract called Ha'raj. From Algiers through Morocco, severe 
earthquakes have been of frequent occurrence ; and that 
which destroyed Oran, in 1790, was simultaneously felt in 
Tetuan and Tangier. AJong the waters of this devoted 
space, the communication is also marked by the occasional 
protrusion of an islet, and frequent shocks of the mare-moto 
or sea-quake; which last was perhaps the reason why 
Neptune, a sea-god, should have been designated the 
Earth-shaker by Homer. Many of the igneous spots have 
been extinct for ages, and the forces are looked upon as 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 107 

having decreased in energy; but volcanic eruptions from 
the subterranean and subaqueous bed of heated crystalline 
rocks, though they may have diminished both in number 
and force since the earlier ages of the globe, are still in 
constant action. 

Severe earthquakes are ever accompanied by an agita- Violent 

m m 63X1)11- 

tion of the neighbouring seas, as was specially noted during quakes, 
the tremendous calamity at Lisbon in 1755 : and the 
fact was observed and recorded very early, for Herodotus 
(Uremia, § 64) mentions a convulsion of the earth which 
was felt out at sea, by the fleet of Eurybiades ; and I myself 
have felt such shocks on several occasions. Eruptions from 
the bottom of the sea, so far as I could learn, exhibit their 
phenomena exactly as from those subaerial vents which 
open at once into the atmosphere : subject only to the 
modifications produced by the greater density of the sur- 
rounding medium, and the greater external pressure caused 
by the weight of the overlying column of water, which then 
becomes an element of the repressive force. Professor Pallas 
mentions that in September, 1799, a submarine eruption 
took place in the Sea of Azof, 150 fathoms from the shore, 
opposite Temruck, accompanied with dreadful thundering, 
emissions of fire and smoke, and the throwing up of ashes 
and stones ; after which an isle — ' like a great sepulchral 
hillock' — rose from the bottom ; but which sunk again, before 
he could visit it. In 1814, another new island was raised 
on that spot, by volcanic explosions : and both were accom- 
panied by earthquakes in the vicinity. On the 13th of 
August, in 1822, when Aleppo was destroyed by a terrific 
earthquake, which instantly buried thousands of the inhabi- 
tants under the ruins of their houses, two rocks arose from 
the sea in the vicinity of Cyprus (Journal of Science, 
vol. xiv., page 450), an island ever partaking in the disasters 
of Syria. 

A curious occurrence befel myself. On the 5th of singular 

, pheno- 

February, 1820, being off the Lover's Leap at Leucadia, menon. 



108 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

in the Aid, the weather became overcast, with variable winds 
and rain at midnight. During the middle watch, a dense 
cloud-bank was seen in the offing; and towards daylight 
there was some appearance of an island discernible in it, 
but being considered a mere Cape Flyaway, I was not 
called. Just before six o'clock, however, the morning 
being unusually dark and heavy, Mr. Skyring stated to 
Lieutenant Hose that he very distinctly perceived an 
island to the west, whereupon the ship was immediately 
put about, and after the sails were trimmed on the other 
tack, the bearings marked on the log-board were — ' Cape 
Ducato south-east by east, — the Island, west/ At this 
moment I came upon deck, and was far from being satis- 
fied that danger was sufficiently threatened for the ship to 
be put about without my orders ; but the weather was very 
cloudy, and the wind fresh from south-east. On examining 
some of the men, and observing it was still very thick to 
windward, we braced up, and from thence till sunset 
worked to windward ; but neither then, nor the next day, 
could we regain sight of the supposed island. The weather 
continuing very unsettled, 1^ went into Port Bathi in 
Ithaca, where, on the 15th of the same month, we felt nine 
distinct shocks of mare-moto, during heavy rain and dark 
squally weather ; giving the sensation of having grounded, 
although in fifteen fathoms water. From that day to the 
6th of March, a succession of earthquakes occurred, and 
Santa Maura was particularly affected ; nor should it be 
overlooked that in the same year, Zante was nearly 
destroyed.* In the following April, being at Corfu, Ad- 
miral Sir Anthony Maitland, then commanding the Glasgow 



* It is advanced that earthquake shocks are not felt in the various Ionian 
Islands at the same instant of time. How this is ascertained we are not 
told ; but when I was there, clocks and watches had a variance with each 
other of at least twenty minutes. It is clear that on these occasions, all 
the vicinity, and the ships in their ports, have unmistakeable notice, and 
apparently at the same moment. 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 109 

frigate, informed nie that a Greek vessel had arrived, with 
a report that they had passed heavy breakers off Santa 
Maura ; on this I immediately weighed and ran down, 
placed sharp eyes at the mast-heads, sounded occasionally 
with 70 and 150 fathoms of line, but returned re infectd. 
The myth became the ' rocky island' of report ; and having 
gained a footing in the papers, was copied by Sir Charles 
Lyell from the Allgemeine Zeitung for 1820 ; and other 
authorities have recorded it. This may possibly have been 
an effect of submarine eruption ; and it is not a little 
curious, that various old charts — as those of the Quarter 
Waggoner, Mount's and Page's Mediterranean Pilot of 1703, 
and others — have represented a small islet to seaward of 
Cephalonia. When I had written the above, it occurred 
to me that Lieutenant C. R Maiden, now the sole survivor 
of the Aid's gun-room officers, might have preserved a note 
on this subject, and I wrote to him for information on 
that point : the following is an extract from his answer, 
dated 4th August, 1852 : — 

Away from home, I have not the means of verifying the date you men- 
tion, the 5th of February, 1820, of the discovery by the Aid of an island off 
Santa Maura. The fact is, however, fresh in my recollection : indeed, it is 
within the present year that I was talking of the cirumstance to some 
friends. I was not on deck, and did not see it, but I well remember the 
confidence with which Skyring and those on deck spoke of having seen an 
island, and the immediate inference that there must have been a shock of an 
earthquake at Santa Maura, aDd which I always understood we found to be 
the case on our arrival in port. Our subsequent cruise in search of the 
island was fruitless, but I well remember it.* 

Experience has proved a constant relation between Volcanoes. 
the earthquake and the interrupted activity of volcanoes, 
where the inner forces are not inert ; and from the con- 
stantly-recurring mutability of the terrestrial crust, there 
can be little doubt of the existence of subterranean caverns 
communicating with active craters, however such commu- 



, * The German naturalist, F. W. Sieber, experienced a severe marc-moto 
near this spot, on the 3rd of January, 1817, while on his passage from the 
Adriatic to Candia. — (See his Travels in Crete). 



110 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

nications may be impeded, or even become closed, and then 
generate earthquake. This is not at all a new assumption, 
or Strabo seems to have considered such vents as safety- 
valves to their neighbouring districts ; and, to be more 
exact, I found among the manuscripts of the Royal Society, 
a letter from their Secretary, the indefatigable Henry Olden- 
burg, addressed to Mr. George Cotton, at Rome, 30th of June, 
1669, in which he says, ' And since the present eruptions 
of Mount iEtna are so considerable as that they fill the 
eares of all Europe with dreadfull reports, as well as they 
heape Sicily with great calamityes, my further request is, 
that you will please to send us the best observations that 
have been made of that horrible fire, and of all the circum- 
stances and effects of it, and particularly of what kind of 
mineralls the fiery streams running through the valleys of 
Sicily did consist, as also what appearances there are in 
other neighbouring vulcans, as in the Strombylo and 
Vesuvius/ 
stromboii. In my account of ' Sicily and its Islands/ published in 

1824, I mentioned that the crater of Stromboii has burnt 
without intermission from the earliest periods ; appearing 
to be not only the vent of its own group, but to have a 
subterraneous communication also with Sicily and Italy, 
for, previous to a severe earthquake's taking place in those 
parts, Stromboii — after much internal rumbling, rimbombi 
e mugghiti — has been observed to be covered with dense 
clouds and smoke, and to emit, with increased activity, 
unusually ardent flames. And I said of the cove in 
which the cone rises abruptly from the sea, ' it is natural 
to imagine it would, from the constant action of the 
volcano, and the incessant discharge of matter for so many 
ages, be very shoal, or, at least, even allowing the stones 
to triturate, that a bank of sediment would have been 
♦ deposited ; the contrary, however, is the case, for I found 
gradual soundings of from four to twenty fathoms all round 
the coasts, even to the two points of Sciarazza Cove ; 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. Ill 

but immediately under the cone, as nearly as I could 
approach, and even within range of the ejected matter, 
there were forty-seven fathoms, and at the distance of a 
few yards, from sixty-five to ninety : an inspection of the 
chart will point this out more clearly. The circumstance is 
curious, and has not a little puzzled the sages of Stromboli, 
who at length, after serious deliberation, have decided, that 
a gulf at the base of the island, continually absorbs the 
ejections, and replenishes the volcano/ For particulars of 
the crater s action, as watched by myself from its margin, 
the reader is referred to the volume above mentioned, 
from which this passage is quoted. 

In the case of subaqueous eruptions it is, of course, Submarine 

. tip volcanoes. 

difficult to ascertain whether they take place irom a new or 
an habitual vent, from an insulated or a parasitical cone. 
Von Buch, the geologist of the age, has given his opinion 
that, in submarine eruptions, the strata previously forming 
the bottom of the sea are uniformly elevated, and that 
positive eruptions do not take place from the vent until 
these strata have been raised above the level of the sea ; 
but this postulate is far from being satisfactory. The pro- 
trusion of conical islets by the elastic force of volcanic 
action, of course lifts up the overlying horizontally-deposited 
strata ; yet there is no reason a priori for supposing such 
an anomalous distinction between the mode of action of 
subaqueous and subaerial volcanoes. In the recent and 
well-observed cases of Sabrina Isle being thrown up off the 
Azores, and Graham Island in the Mediterranean, the sub- 
stances which showed themselves above water were either 
ashes and cinders ; or vesicular, lithoidal, and conglomerate 
lavas, the products of the eruption by which they were 
raised. Respecting this last-named volcano there are for- 
tunately very detailed accounts, of which perhaps the most 
accurate is that by Dr. Davy, brother of the late Sir Hum- 
phry Davy. It seems that, as early as the 28th of June, 
1831, Captain Swinburne, in passing nearly over the spot, 



112 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

felt several shocks of a sea-quake, proving that the cause 
was then in operation ; but on the 19th of the following 
July the crater had accumulated to a few feet above the level 
of the sea, and was in great activity, emitting vast volumes 
of steam, ashes, and scoriae. From that time it gradually 
increased in all its dimensions, till, towards the end of 
August, its circumference was about 3240 feet, and its 
height 107 : then from October various changes took place, 
and it entirely disappeared in December. As there were 
certain mistakes propagated by the Journal of the Geogra- 
phical Society and the Quarterly Review, as to this 
Spiraglio, and in order that physical inquiry might start 
fair, I addressed a note to the Royal Society, c On an Error 
respecting the Site and Origin of Graham Island/ which is 
printed in the Philosophical Transactions for 1832.* I 
therefore need here only add what may be deemed the 
ultimate result, as contained in an extract from a letter 
written to me by Captain Graves, formerly of the Adventure, 
dated Malta, 20th June, 1846 :— 

I have just returned in the hired vessel Locust, from a very pleasant 
cruise to Graham's Shoal, Girgenti, and Palermo ; and I therefore lose no 
time in reporting to my old commander what I found upon his ground. 
Graham's Shoal I spent two days in examining, with your chart in hand. 
Since Elson (late Master of the Adventure) was there in 1841, the shoal 
itself has altered much both in depth and extent ; it then had a sharp 
pinnacle, with one-and-a-half fathoms on it, and the water suddenly deepened 
all round, while the bottom was irregular, and composed of lava, cinders, &c. 
Now it has sunk down to a depth of thirty-five fathoms — as much under 
water as it was above it at its greatest recorded elevation — and as it 
descended it gradually spread out in extent, so that it now forms a flat 
bank, on which the sand and coral are already making a crust. Indeed, its 
present actual state is similar to those banks marked in your chart as Nerita, 
Triglia, Pinna-marina, &c, all which are probably extinct volcanoes. 

Singular The Italians have recorded instances of chasms suddenly 

formed by openings in the water, accompanied by discharges 
both of smoke and ashes ; in one of which a vessel was lost 



* On showing the proof-sheet of this to an excellent naval friend, he 
advised me to obtain permission from the Royal Society to reprint my letter 
in the Appendix to this work. 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 113 

in 1813, in sight of the Neapolitan corvette Stabia, com- 
manded by Captain Acton. The Journal de Constantinople 
also states that, on Sunday the 4th of April, 1847, one of 
these phenomena occurred in the Black Sea. An Austrian 
steamer of Lloyd's Company, the Stamboul, was proceeding 
to Constantinople in a calm state of the weather, and was 
within an hour's distance of Synope, — 

When suddenly the sea opened under her ; assuming the form of a vast 
funnel ; the waves, in closing, covered her almost entirely, swept the deck, 
\ and did the most serious damage. The shock was so violent, that several 
leaks were sprung, and the vessel was some time in recovering herself from 
this terrible pressure, and getting fairly afloat again. She rose, however, 
after some pitching, but injured to such an extent, that if another shock had 
taken place, she would have inevitably been lost. It was with the greatest 
difficulty that she reached the port of Synope to refit, after which she pro- 
ceeded to Constantinople, where she arrived safe last Tuesday. Those who 
were witnesses of this accident, thought at first it might have originated in 
an earthquake, but nothing of the sort has occurred elsewhere. It must be 
admitted that some submarine dislodgment opened under the vessel an abyss 
into which the waves rushed, and in this way they formed a gulf, in which 
she narrowly escaped being smashed and swallowed up. 

The causes of successive alterations in the sea-board, other causes 
other than volcanoes, are sufficiently obvious. Large changes, 
quantities of detrital matter are at first carried with 
velocity down streams and torrents ; but towards the 
mouths and deltas of large rivers, the action is so moderated 
that the waters bear a very diminished transport of terrene 
substances. Tidal sets and oceanic currents carry only the 
finer comminuted silts over the areas they traverse, except 
where narrow straits, projecting headlands, or other 
peculiar local features, interrupt them ; or, not least of 
active causes, where breakers under the influence of pre- 
vailing winds exert both destructive and transporting 
powers. Gravel or sand contained in water having a 
specific gravity greater than that vehicle, can only be kept 
in suspension so long as the water is in a state of agitation ; 
and as soon as such troubled water becomes quiet, the silt 
and other impurities gradually subside : nor is absolute 
repose necessary for this process ; as the meeting of cur- 

i 









114 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

rents and the action of winds both affect the direction and 
accumulation of the deposit. But the cutting and scooping 
actions of streams, and their effect at great depths, cannot 
be so extraordinary as has been assumed by some writers, 
since the friction of the moving body is influential in an 
inverse ratio to the velocity of the super-current, so that 
the lower waters must inevitably be retarded : this seems to 
have been proved in a great measure by descents in a 
diving-bell. Hence it follows, that the bottom of very 
deep waters must remain comparatively undisturbed. 
Still the collective amount of soluble matter continually 
brought down by rivers and torrents, as well as what is 
even derived from rocks by the percolation of water 
through them — together with the action of frost, earth- 
quake, and the undermining of the sea — must become 
sensible in the course of centuries — independently of the 
vast chemical changes which nature carries out, and upon 
which we have yet so much to learn. 
Origin of But though the present intention is rather to point out 

the Medi- i i i • n 

terranean. a few palpable instances of what may be termed the 
secondary geological efforts, it may be necessary to men- 
tion that the formation of the expanse of the Mediter- 
ranean waters, commencing at such a mere frith as that of 
Gibraltar, and reaching as far as the sea of Azof, has 
been a subject of speculation from the earliest ages. The 
main features are sufficiently remarkable to awake inquiry ; 
and the narrowness of the entrance, together with its local 
currents and tides, has excited conjectures both para- 
doxical and philosophical. A hasty glance at some of the 
most prominent will here suffice ; only premising that we 
have no intention of entering upon a solution of the 
impossible problem of how and by what means the 
Mediterranean was brought into its present state, nor 
of either adopting or rejecting any of the several theories 
on the subject — mention is made solely for the purpose 
of aiding future examination. 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 115 

By the earlier writers, poets, and mythologists, the two 
barrier mountains called the Columns of Hercules were 
said to have been united, till that wonder-working hero 
separated them by digging a communication between the 
Atlantic and Mediterranean seas. But among those who 
disregarded fiction, it was a prevailing notion that this 
opening had been forced by an impetuous onset of the 
inner or outer waters, as may be gathered from the allu- 
sions and testimonies of Strato Physicus, Aristotle, Diodorus 
Siculus, and Seneca : and what with the deluges of Deu- 
calion and Ogyges, it may be inferred through all the 
subsequent poetical embellishments, that the shores of the 
Black Sea and Archipelago were actually twice devastated 
by sudden inundations of the sea, more than 3000 years 
ago. A vast debdclage followed the presumed disruption 
of the Euxine barrier, and the consequent mighty rush of 
water westwards. 

These opinions prevailed in different degrees, and Arabian 
swayed the minds of men for ages : but when the Arabs 
had substituted Mohammedan for Greek traditions, after 
the Tenth Century of our era, a new system was put forth. 
Thus, in the middle of the Twelfth Century, we hear Edrisi, 
or to give him his due, Abu-Abdallah Mohammed ben 
Mohammed ben Abdullah ben Edris — a noble Arab, born 
at Ceuta, and therefore probably well versed in the popular 
traditions of the Strait. He was the writer of a geo- 
graphical work commonly known, since 1619, as the 
Geographia NvMensis — from a false reading in the 
translator's manuscript, which made the author speak as a 
native of Nubia. It was, however, a description illustrative 
of a large silver terrestrial globe, constructed for his patron 
Count Roger, of Sicily, in the year 1153; his book was 
therefore known as Ketdb Rujdr (Roger's book), though its 
true title was Nuzhat al-mushtdk fi ikhtirdk al-dfdk 
(the commencement of the journey of one who is desirous 
of travelling through the regions of the earth) ; it was also 

t 2 



116 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

often cited as Dhik al Memdlik w-al Mesdlek (an account 
of kingdoms and countries). The complete work was long 
to be found only in the Bodleian Library at Oxford ; but 
other copies having about twenty-five years ago been pro- 
cured for the King's Library at Paris, M. Jaubert was 
persuaded to publish the translation of it, which appeared 
in two quarto volumes, in 1836, under the patronage of the 
French Geographical Society. Here we find that Edrisi 
terms the Mediterranean Bahr-al-shdm, or Sea of Syria; 
and gives 1136 parasangs as its length from the com- 
mencement to its termination. He then continues, in his 
account of the Fourth Climate, § 1. — 

The Syrian Sea was, as it is said, originally a lake enclosed on all sides, 
such as the Sea of T'aberistan is at present ; its waters had no connexion 
with those of the neighbouring ocean. The inhabitants of Africa and 
Andalus (Spain), were constantly at war with each other, and mutually 
doing all the mischief they could, till the time of Alexander (IsJcender). He 
came to Andalus, and the people of the country informed him of their con- 
tentions with the men of Sus (Africa). He therefore assembled labourers 
and engineers, and fixed upon the place of the Strait (el-zoJcak), — it was a 
hollow depression in the mountains. He then ordered the geometers to 
measure the ground, and take the level of the waters of these two seas ; and 
he found that the level of the Great Sea was only a trifle above that of the 
Syrian Sea ; he then commanded the soil to be dug away between the 
country of Tanjah (Tangier) and that of Andalus. The digging was continued 
as far as the lower part of the mountains of those countries. He then built 
upon them a mole of stones, twelve miles in length. He built, also, another 
opposite to it in the neighbourhood of Tanjah. Between these two moles 
there was a width of six miles. When the two bulwarks had been finished, 
the digging was continued till they reached the waters of the Great Sea, 
which rushed in with the greatest violence between these two moles, over- 
whelmed many cities on each side, drowned their inhabitants, and rose above 
the two moles nearly to eleven statures (eleven times a man's height). The 
mole which is near the land of Andalus appears very plainly when the water 
of the sea is smooth, near the place called Es-safihah (the level) ; its length 
is in a straight line, and is a cubit in breadth, as measured by Al-Rabii. I 
myself have seen it, and have sailed the whole length of this strait along 
this side of it. The people of the island (Al-jezlrah) call it the bridge ; and 
the middle of it corresponds with the place where the stag's rock overhangs 
the sea. The other mole, which was near Tanjah, was carried away by the 
violence of the waters. 

Remark on Such is Edrisi's account ; and it is not a little singular 



Edrisi. 



that where he places this mole, as appears from his own 
observation, I found that there is actually much less water 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 117 

than on either hand in the vicinity, as will presently be 
shown; and this is a fact which escaped notice from his 
time until my soundings were taken. It is also clear that 
his island is not Algeciras but Tarifa, and he must have 
been conversant with the shoal off it, now called the 
Cabezos ; for there can be no reasonable doubt but this is 
the Spanish portion of the mole which, according to Edrisi, 
1 appears very plainly when the water of the sea is smooth/ 
and which he himself — believing the legends and imagined 
aspect of the bottom of the sea there — had seen. It is 
moreover certain that the water on the African shore is the 
deepest ; and the difference of level which he assigns 
between the two seas, is precisely what a ' geometer' would 
now find it — ' only a trifle/ It is therefore, on the whole, 
a very curious description. 

Nearly three centuries before Edrisi's time, according to Abfi zeid 
Renaudot, the two Mohammedan travellers, or at least 
Abu. Zeid al Hasan, who wrote in A.D. 877, described the 
communication of the Mediterranean with the eastern 
ocean as a recent discovery. But as those early Arabian 
voyagers were better acquainted with India and China, 
than with the shores in question, they would not have been 
called in evidence but for a remarkable passage which 
proves — if Renaudot has rightly translated this sentence — 
that the Arabians must have adopted their geographical 
notions from the Greeks ; for Abu Zeid thought that the 
Indian ocean washed the coast of Tartary, fell into the 
Caspian Sea, and so by the Propontis into the Mediter- 
ranean. The story upon which this opinion was founded, 
runs thus : — 

In our time, a discovery has been made of a circumstance quite new and 
unknown to tliose who lived before us. Nobody ever imagined that the 
great sea which extends from India to China had any communication with 
the sea of Syria ; nor could any one apprehend the possibility of any such 
thing. Now behold what has come to pass in our days, according to what 
we have heard. In the Sea of Roum (Mediterranean) they found the wreck 
of an Arabian ship, which had been shattered by tempests ; for all her crew 
had perished, and she being torn to pieces by the waves, her remains were 



118 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 



General 
idea. 






Buffon's 
theory. 



driven by the winds and weather into the sea of the Khozars (Euxme), and 
from thence through the canal of Constantinople into the Mediterranean Sea, 
and were at last thrown on the coast of Syria. Hence it is evident that the 
sea surrounds all the country of China and Sila, the extremity of Turkistan, 
and the country of the Khozars : and that it passes through the strait till it 
washes the Syrian shore. This is proved by the structure of the vessel of 
which we are speaking, for the planks were not nailed, but joined in a 
peculiar manner, as if they were sewed together : all those built in the 
Mediterranean, or on the coast of Syria, are nailed together, and are not 
joined in any other way. None but the ships of Siraf are so fastened. 

Now instead of the massoolah-boat suggested by a 
grave reasoner on this narrative, a supposition which is 
utterly inadmissible, it is within compass to suppose, that 
it was a wretched Sarmatian vessel from the Black Sea. 

Leaving this non sequitur to the Middle- Age geographer 
with whom it originated, it may be observed that tints of 
the Ogygian impressions still colour the mists of this ques- 
tion. Some of the most thinking among modern writers 
have supposed the Mediterranean to have been once a vast 
lake, the waters of which, having been suddenly increased 
by the irruption of those of the Black Sea, in consequence 
of some violent cataclysm, forced a passage through the Gut, 
and produced the awful inundation which submerged the 
island of Atlantis. This bursting of lakes has been a more 
favourite point with cosmogonists of former ages, than it is 
with present theorists. And with judgment : for nature 
adapts all her works most admirably to her designed end. 
No one ever yet saw a lake the barriers of which were 
suddenly incapable of resisting the contained water. It 
therefore follows that the flood, earthquakes, subsidence 
and upheaving of strata, must be the consequence of extra- 
ordinary volcanic action — one of the most powerful agents 
in changing the form of the earth's surface. 

The hypothesis of a rush of waters from the east was long 
a popular axiom, and held its sway until it was combated 
in form by the Count de Buffon. This eminent naturalist 
objected to the premises of his predecessors, on the ground 
that it is the Ocean which runs into the Mediterranean, and 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 119 

not the latter into the former. ' Cette opinion,' he says, 
' ne peut se soutenir, des qu'on est assure* que c'est FOcdan 
qui coule dans la Mediterranee, et non pas la M^diterrane'e 
dans TOcean/ He further viewed the inner sea as having 
been a large lake, and considered that the Strait of Gibraltar 
was owing to a sudden disruption produced by some acci- 
dental cause, as an earthquake or a sinking of land, or other- 
wise by a violent effort of the ocean. This he strengthened 
and supported on the supposition that similar strata are 
observable at equal heights on both sides of the strait ; and 
he concludes that when the ocean broke through this barrier, 
it rushed with overwhelming velocity into the lake. Here, 
aided by the former bursting of the Euxine through the 
Bosporus, the waters inundated the continent, transformed 
its marginal plains and valleys into sea-gulfs, and left only 
the eminences uncovered which now form Italy and the 
various islands. This idea, to which some of the ancient 
inferences closely approximated, was hardly originated by 
Buffon, though many of the details might be his own. 
Long before he took the field, the authors of the Universal 
History (vol. iii., p. 239, folio edition, 1 744) had published 
these words ; — ' In the hypothesis of the ancients, the Palus 
Mceotis, the Pontus Euxinus, the Propontis and Medi- 
terranean, were originally so many lakes, which, after 
having broke down, as it were, the dikes that parted them, 
with the impetuosity of their waters, opened themselves a 
passage between the mountains of Atlas and Calpe into the 
ocean. It is, perhaps, more likely that the ocean, having 
with the impetuosity of its waters dismembered the moun- 
tain of Calpe from the lands of Africa, poured itself into 
that vast space now called the Mediterranean, and, pene- 
trating to the north, produced the Propontis, the Pontus, 
and the Palus Mceotis.' 

So far one reverie was as good as another ; and even the 
old Sarnothracian tradition relative to the bursting of the 
Bosporus — whether in consequence of volcanic action, of 



120 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 

which vestiges are still observable, or from the pressure 
of accumulated waters — must not be lost sight of; especially 
as the forms of the islands, and their denudation, coun- 
tenance the idea of their having been effected by a sudden 
and violent rush of waters. But Buffon, attached to theorems, 
became ambitious of taking the lead, by establishing his 
inference as a final authority, and a problem proved by 
facts : and, indeed, it was more palatable than his patronage 
of the dreams of spontaneous generation. The quidnuncs 
who criticised his speculation insisted that, if his opinion 
was of any value, the eastern waters of the Mediterranean 
would inevitably prove to be comparatively shallow. Where- 
Sonnini's upon his bosom friend, M. Sonnini de Manoncourt, asserted 
' that he had himself found this confirmation of the theory, 
having, at BufTon's request, sounded the depth of the sea 
between Sicily and Malta, where he gained bottom in from 
twenty-five to thirty fathoms ; and that in the middle of the 
channel, where the water is deepest, the depth never ex- 
ceeded 100 fathoms; and further, that between Malta and 
Cape Bon in Africa there is still less water, the lead indicating 
no more than from twenty-five to thirty fathoms throughout 
the whole length of that passage. Now this, to use the 
softest term such an assertion admits of, is outrageously 
incorrect, for I can, from repeated trial, declare that thirty 
fathoms are only obtainable in-shore, till the experimenter 
arrives at the Adventure Bank ; and there are parts to the 
north-west of Malta, right in the line for Cape Bon, where 
I have been unable to strike bottom with 500 fathoms 
of line. Again, we are assured that the same industrious 
explorer discovered that the Levant Basin is very shallow 
indeed, especially between the Archipelago and the shores 
of Libya : in this case, surely some astonishing change 
must have occurred, or how could I have found profound 
depths in the same space in less than half a century after- 
wards ! I obtained from 70 to 90 fathoms, deepening to 
150 and 250. at a small distance from the shore all along 



PRELIMINARY MATTER. 121 

the Libyan coast ; and tried in vain for soundings with 500 
fathoms of line further out. At this time I was not aware 
of the Sonnini discoveries,* and the argument derived from 
them, or I would have attended more closely to the question. 
But on becoming acquainted with them afterwards, and to 
give that gentleman fair play, I wrote to my former assis- 
tant, Captain Graves, to try the northern side of the Levant 
Basin, in the neighbourhood of Cyprus. That active officer captain 
found 100 fathoms depth at about two miles from the Graves * 
island, and at about double that distance he had no bottom 
with 200 : between the west end of Cyprus and the coast 
of Caramania, he struck ground in 650 fathoms ; but about 
halfway between Cyprus and the coast of Egypt, he payed 
out 1000 fathoms of line without finding bottom. Hence 
we see that the expounders of Buffon's theory were all 
adrift; and also that the oracular prediction of Cyprus 
joining Asia Minor by the action and deposits of the Pyra- 
mus, is not likely to be yet fulfilled : but, in sober truth, it 
must be admitted that we are very little acquainted with 
the depth of the deeper parts of those waters.f 

Quitting these portentous visions, however, which are Ancient 
supported by little more than doubtful conjectures, it is quite views? ° a 
within the grasp of induction to investigate the effects and 
alterations which have resulted under a system of traceable 
causes, some extinct, but many still in ceaseless operation. Yet 
in stating the geological knowledge which we seem so recently 
to have obtained, it is impossible to forget that theoretically 
there is hardly anything absolutely new ; for the system of 



* Sonnini was an oracle in some circles. He suggested that Candia 
was detached from Africa by an inundation of the low lands which formerly 
united them; an opinion, he says, which acquires an additional decree of 
probability when we direct our attention to the shallowness of the channel 
which separates them, 'whose bottom everywhere affords soundings!' For 
Sonnini's accuracy of observation, even above water, see page 70. 

+ For instance, while reading the proof of this sheet, a letter reaches me 
from Sir Francis Beaufort, informing me of a new search for the supposed 
rock 90 miles east of Malta, in which no bottom was gained with 2500 
fathoms of line. We shall return to this. 



122 



MEDITERRANEAN DIVISIONS. 



Eratos- 



Pythagoras. Pythagoras, as preserved by Ovid, is exceedingly applicable 
to our present notion of various phenomena in the inani- 
mate world. Eratosthenes (apud Strabonem) asked how 
is it that ' two or three hundred stadia inland there are still 
found numerous sea-shells, as well oysters as mussels, espe- 
cially near the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, and all along 
the route leading to it?' And he cites with praise the 
names of Strato and Xanthus, as able geologists ; of whom 
the latter, struck by the petrifactions which he saw far from 
the sea, boldly pronounced that Armenia, Media, and 
Phrygia were formerly under the sea. Much of this was 
adopted by Pliny; and perhaps inspired Lucan with his 
well-known prediction on the changes which have taken 
place in the Syrtes since his day ; nor can this paragraph 
be better closed than by an extract from the Pythagorean 
philosophy (Ovid's Metamorphoses, book xv.), as rendered 
by Dryden : — 

The face of places, and their forms, decay ; 
And that is solid earth that once was sea : 
Seas in their turn retreating from the shore, 
Make solid land what ocean was before ; 
And far from strands are shells of fishes found, 
And rusty anchors fix'd on mountain ground. 
And what were fields before, now wash'd and worn 
By falling floods from high, to valleys turn, 
And crumbling still descend to level lands ; 
And lakes, and trembling bogs, are barren sands. 



Strato. 
Xanthus. 



Pliny. 
Lucan. 



Mediterra- 
nean 
features. 



§ 2. The Divisions, Temperature, Colour, Lu- 
minosity, and the various substances found 
in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. 

THE northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean 
are greatly contrasted in feature ; the former expanding 
into peninsulas, isthmuses, sinuosities, and islands, while 
the configuration of the latter presents comparatively but 
little articulated variation of form. Exclusive of the Black 
S ea — which, however, must be considered as a part of it — 



BASINS. 123 

this sheet of waters is naturally divided into two vast 
basins ; and these again are subdivided into particular por- 
tions. In the days of Strabo, this expanse was distinguished 
into three basins ; the first comprehended the space between 
the columns of Hercules and Sicily — the second, that be- 
tween Sicily and Rhodes — and the third, the sea between 
Rhodes and the shores of Syria. 

The first great basin of the modern division extends Basins 
from Gibraltar to Cape Bon and the Faro of Messina, 
washing the bases of the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, 
and the range of Mount Atlas ; and it is again subdivided 
into two unequal parts by the islands of Corsica and Sar- 
dinia. The second, or inner grand basin, is of twice the 
area of the first ; it extends from the coasts of Tunis and 
Sicily to those of Egypt and Syria, stretching on the north 
into two distinct and separate basins, known as the Adriatic 
and Archipelago ; while on the south, the Gulf of Libya 
penetrates deeply into the African continent. The eastern 
portion of this basin is interrupted by Cyprus alone : it 
was anciently subdivided into the Pamphylian, Syrian, 
and Phoenician seas ; but is now universally known as the 
Levant — a term, however, more proper for its coasts than 
its waters. 

Such are the commonly received designations ; but Subdivi- 
geographers and pilots are rather vague in their denomi- 
nations of the several subdivisions ; and many portions 
being without physical boundaries, are only distinguished 
by epithets properly applicable rather to particular spots. 
Thus the space included between the Balearic Islands and 
the coast of Spain (Mare Balearicum), is called at times 
the sea of Majorca, and at others the sea of Valencia ; to 
the west of Italy the waters are called the Tyrrhenian, the 
Ligustic, the Tuscan, or the Italian indifferently ; and when 
viewed with regard to the Adriatic, they are often termed 
the Lower Sea, the two being the Mare superum and 
Mare inferum of ancient geography. The Sicilian sea 



124 TEMPERATURE. 

washes the shores of the numerous isles which stud the 
centre of the Mediterranean ; to the east of which — be- 
tween Sicily and Western Greece — it joins the Ionian sea. 
From the south of Italy to the shores of Albania is 
the mouth of the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice ; and the 
space embraced by Greece and Asia Minor is the iEgean or 
Archipelago — the White Sea of the Turks. From this 
last a strait — the well-known Dardanelles (Hellespontus)— 
conducts us to the Sea of Marmora (Propontis) ; and 
another, now called the Strait of Constantinople (Bosporus 
Thracius) leads to the once-dreaded Black Sea (Pontus 
Euxinus). To the north-east of this breadth of waters is. 
the Sea of Azof (Palus Mceotis), the utmost maritime 
limit in that quarter; though some insist that a strait 
once connected this part with the Caspian Sea, along 
the very peculiar and depressed plain beyond the Cau- 
casus. The authorities are strangely discordant. 
Tempera- From the laws of gravitation it is inferred that the 

surface of the ocean is always at the same distance from 
the centre of the earth, and before the discovery that far 
above the freezing point the specific gravity again de- 
creases, it was supposed that the temperature of its water 
decreases in proportion to its depth ; whence some con- 
cluded that the profoundest gulfs must be coated with 
eternal ice. This theory is raked by fact. The result of 
my experiments leads to the conclusion that there actually 
exists a very sensible diminution between the surface tem- 
perature, and that obtained at great depths ; and the dif- 
ference may be roundly estimated as about one degree for 
every twenty fathoms of line near the surface, save where 
the agency of subterranean currents may be at work, for 
such streams are undoubtedly connected with oceanic in- 
fluences : but below about 180 fathoms, to our utmost 
depths, the temperature varied but little from 42° or 43° of 
the Fahrenheit scale. We found that at equal depths the 
warmth is rather higher alongshore than in the offing, 
still no reliance can be placed here upon thermometrical 



ture. 



TEMPERATUEE. 125 

indications of an approach to land, or a great bank, as taught 
in the Atlantic Ocean : and the supposed heating of the 
waves is a mistaken sensation produced by the cooling of 
the atmosphere in the mean time. The mere surface tem- 
perature is very variable, according to the weather and the 
altitude of the sun, differing at sunrise and in the after- 
noon by three or four degrees, and even more. 

For my own experiments, I caused a hollow perforated Experi- 

i ments. 

cylinder to be made as non-conductive of caloric as the 
metal would permit, in which was placed one of the ex- 
cellent self-registering thermometers invented by James 
Six. This was occasionally cast overboard to a depth of 
eight fathoms, and the ■ mean results during several years 
give a difference from the temperature of the air of 
only 1'5 to 3"5; the greater variations being in the sum- 
mer months. A comparison of my eight-fathom observa- 
tions, with those of the ocean furnished by Mr. Purdy, led 
me to conclude that the Mediterranean waters average 
about 3*5 of Fahrenheit more heat than those of the 
western part of the Atlantic Ocean. Around Sicily I found 
the comparative summer temperature still higher, even at 
a greater depth, it being 10° or 12° warmer than the water 
is stated to be outside the Strait of Gibraltar ; which 
accounts for a greater evaporation, and consequent effect 
on the currents. The surface temperature of the waters 
near Sicily was often higher than what was shown a few 
fathoms below it ; but as that condition naturally de- 
pended in great measure on the state of the superin- 
cumbent atmosphere, and was a complicated condition, it 
was not included in the general estimate. 

The usual tint of the Mediterranean Sea, when undis- Colour. 
turbed by accidental or local causes, is a bright and deep 
blue ; but in the Adriatic a green tinge is prevalent ; in the 
Levant Basin, it borders on purple ; while the Euxine often 
has the dark aspect from which it derives its modern 
appellation. The clear ultramarine tint is the most general, 
and has been immemorially noticed, although the dia- 



126 COLOUR AND LUMINOSITY. 

phanous translucence of the water almost justifies those 
Colour. who assert that it has no colour at all. But notwithstanding 
the fluid, when undeflled by impurities, seems in small 
quantities to be perfectly colourless, yet in large masses it 
assuredly exhibits tints of different intensities. That the 
sea has actually a fine blue colour at a distance from, the 
land cannot well be contradicted ; nor can such colour — 
however influential the sky is known to be in shifting tints 
— be considered as wholly due to reflection from the 
heavens, since it is often of a deeper hue than that of the 
sky,* both from the interception of solar light by the 
clouds, and the hues which they themselves take. This is 
difficult to account for satisfactorily, as no analysis has yet 
detected a sufficient quantity of colouring matter to tinge 
so immense a body of water : wherefore Sir Humphrey 
Davy's supposition of an admixture of iodine cannot be 
admitted, for its presence is barely traceable under the most 
careful analysis. Those who contend for there being no 
colour at all, may remind us that the blue rays are the 
most refrangible ; and that being reflected in greatest 
quantity by the fluid (which, because of its density and 
depth, causes them to undergo a strong refraction) they 
cause a tint which is only apparent. Be that as it may, 
seamen admit of one conclusion — namely, that a green 
hue is a general indication of soundings, and indigo- 
blue of profound depth. 
Luminosity. The peculiar occasional luminosity of this sea was 
particularly noticed by Pliny and many elders, and, in 
common with that of other waters, it has long been a sub- 
ject of scientific inquiry, rational conjecture, and ignorant 
wonderment ; and it is really as difficult of a full solution 
as it is superbly beautiful in effect. Every assignable 



* When the surface of the sea reflects heavy clouds, so as to be 
apparently darker than usual, it is looked upon as the prognostic of bad 
weather. 



COMPONENTS. 127 

cause has been advanced ; putrescent fish, electricity, 
atomic friction, cosmical vortices, absorption and emission 
of solar beams, and what not, have all and severally been 
brought forward, and after various tilts of discussion, laid 
aside again. But most naturalists now impute this phos- 
phorescent appearance partly to the decomposition of 
animal substances, and partly to the countless myriads of 
mollusca, Crustacea, infusoria, and other animalcules which 
can voluntarily emit a luminous brilliance, the chemical 
nature of which is still unknown. 

Regarding the constituents of the Mediterranean water, Compo- 

, . nents. 

the analysts of former days were at considerable variance ; 
for while some — observing the rapid desiccation of salt 
from its brine — maintained its muriate of soda to be con- 
siderably above that of the average of oceanic water, others 
would not admit that there existed any difference. Recent 
experiments, however, have shown that the water of the Me- 
diterranean contains full four per cent, of salt, while that 
of the Black Sea has only a smaller proportion. M. Bouil- 
lon la Grange investigated the subject with great persever- 
ance ; and his conclusion is, that assuming the proportion 
of saline matter in the water of the Atlantic Ocean to be 
38, that of the English Channel will be 36, and that of the 
Mediterranean 41. 

On returning to England in the winter of 1820, I Dr. Marcet. 
became acquainted with the late Dr. Marcet, who was then 
studying the chemical composition of sea-water procured 
from different parts of the globe. Among other matters, 
he mentioned that Mr. Smithson Tennant and himself had 
been extremely desirous of getting specimens from great 
depths at and near the Strait of Gibraltar, in order to 
ascertain how the inner sea rids its waters of their excess 
of salt; and that having furnished Dr. Macmichael with an 
adapted machine, that gentleman procured them some 
water in the Strait at a depth of 250 fathoms, but found it 
fruitless to attempt to gain bottom, ' from the impossibility 



128 THE WOLLASTON ANALYSIS. 

of reaching it, on account of the great depth at that spot/ 
Hereupon I assured him that bottom should be struck on 
my return thither, as I had then no notion of the difficulty 
to be encountered ; for having found ground between Tarifa 
and Tangier in 160 fathoms, it was natural to conclude 
there would be no violent difference through the whole 
strait of Strait. But we found to the east that no bottom was obtain- 

Gibraltar. 

able with 1000 fathoms of line, and that from the ship's 
drift, the line quickly formed a diagonal curve. By the 
employment of two vessels, however, so that the headmost 
could cast the line, and be met by the drift of the sternmost 
one while the weight was descending, we obtained sound- 
ings throughout this celebrated opening in 1824, for the 
first time since it was navigated. The depths varied from 
700 and 750 to 950 fathoms, which last was struck as nearly 
as possible in a vertical line, on a bottom of gravel and 
sand, mixed with spoils of testaceous creatures and coral- 
line fragments. Indeed, the whole Mediterranean Sea is 
so much deeper than would be expected from its proximity 
to surrounding lands, that it seems to be what, in geological 
dynamics, is termed a sunken basin. 

But the revealment of this chasm was not more surpris- 
ing than was the result obtained by the analysis of water 
procured in the immediate vicinity; for except in that 
instance, we detected no difference of density with increas- 
ing depths: and the whole is so remarkable, that I will 
Dr. woiias- give the account in Dr. William Hyde Wollaston's own 

ton's ana- g 

lysis. words — it being the last document addressed by that philo- 
sopher to the Royal Society, before whom it was read on 
the 18th of December, 1828:— 

The object of the present communication is to do justice to the memory 
of my late friend, Dr. Marcet, by recording the result of one of his latest 
efforts in the cause of science. 

In his examination of sea-water, of which he gave an account in the 
Philosophical Transactions for 1819, the specimens with which he had been 
supplied from different depths in the Mediterranean had not been sufficient 
to show what becomes of the vast amount of salt brought into that sea by 
the constant current which sets eastward through the Straits of Gibraltar. 



THE WOLLASTON ANALYSIS. 129 

For though the escape of the water of that current may be fully accounted 
for by its evaporation, which must be very rapid and copious on the sunny 
shallows of Africa, yet the salt which that water held in solution must 
remain in the basin of the Mediterranean, or escape by some hitherto un- 
explained means of exit. 

In the hope of obtaining a more abundant supply of water from the 
greatest accessible depths, especially near the Straits, he begged assistance 
from Captain William Henry Smyth, R.N., who was engaged to make a 
survey of certain parts of that sea ; and supplied that officer with the appa- Apparatus, 
ratus for raising water from great depths, which was contrived by Mr. Ten- 
nan t, and is described in the communication already referred to.* 

The zeal with which Dr. Marcet himself prosecuted his inquiries was so 
well known, that others were always willing to second his efforts, from a 
confidence that their labour would not be unprofitably wasted ; and Captain 
Smyth did not fail to take every opportunity of collecting specimens in the 
course of his survey. But when he heard that Dr. Marcet was no more, not 
being aware of the interest with which the specimens would be received 
and examined by many surviving friends, he was unfortunately but too 
ready to oblige other persons with portions of his collection, which were 
afterwards applied by them to other objects. 

Nevertheless, at the time I had the good fortune to be introduced to 
Captain Smyth, in the month of June, 1827, he still retained in his possession 
three bottles, the remainder of his stock, and at my request most obligingly Specimens 
sent them to me for examination. analyzed. 

Happily, one of them is such as to accord in the most complete manner 
with the anticipation, that an accumulation of denser water might be found 
at great depths in the neighbourhood of the Straits, from which a counter- 
current beneath, though far less rapid, might carry westward into the 
Atlantic as much salt as enters with the eastward current near the surface 
from that ocean into the Mediterranean. 

The evidence of this will be comprised, indeed, in very few words; for 
though the two first specimens, taken at distances of about 680 and 450 miles 
from the Straits, and at depths of 450 and 400 fathoms respectively, do not 
exceed in density that of many ordinary samples of sea- water, yet the last, 



* This is a slight error. Dr. Marcet was kind enough to superintend the 
making of a water-bottle for me, by Thomas Jones, of Charing Cross. It con- 
sists of a thick bell-metal cylinder, about ten inches long and six in diameter, 
with strong caps on the ends, each having conical apertures in the same direc- 
tion, through which passes a metal rod, having a conical projection at each end, 
both ends fitting exactly in the conical apertures in the caps of the cylinder. 
When in use, the piston-rod is lifted up, and held firmly by a spring, whereby 
the water can enter freely and pass upwards through the descending 
cylinder, which is closed at any required depth by letting a perforated iron 
ball slip down by the suspending line. This ball, on arriving, strikes the 
spring, when the bottle is instantly closed and forcibly locked up by the 
conical fittings, and water from the precise spot is obtained without a 
possibility of the intermediate fluid affecting it. The contents were then 
carefully emptied into bottles, corked, sealed, labelled, with all local par- 
ticulars, and carefully placed in store. 

K 



130 



THE WOLLASTON ANALYSIS. 



Under-cur- 
rent. 



which was taken up at about 50 miles within the Straits, and from a depth 
of 670 fathoms, has a density exceeding that of distilled water by more than 
four times the usual excess, and accordingly leaves, upon evaporation, more 
than four times the usual quantity of saline residuum. 

Hence it is clear, that an under-current outward of such denser water, 
if of equal breadth and depth with the current inward near the surface, would 
carry out as much salt below aS is brought in above, although it moved with 
less than one-fourth part of the velocity, and would thus prevent a per- 
petual increase of saltness in the Mediterranean Sea beyond that existing in 
the Atlantic. 

On comparison of the relative specific gravities and quantities of salt, 
in the table subjoined to this paper, with those in Dr. Marcet's table, there 
may be remarked a want of accordance between the two experiments that 
will require to be explained. 

This difference arises from the different temperatures at which his results 
and mine were dried. In his experiments the degree of heat chosen 
was 212° ; in mine, the temperature was raised beyond 300°. In each case, 
it will be seen that the quantity of saline contents to be obtained may be 
estimated from the specific gravity, by multiplying the excess of density 
above that of distilled water by a certain factor, which will vary with the 
temperature that we may select for drying. 

At 212° this factor is about "144, and the product will then represent 
the saline contents -\- a quantity of water retained by the deliquescent salts. 
At 300°, and upwards, the factor is only "134, on account of a nearer 
approach to perfect desiccation. 

TABLE. 



No. 1 
2 
3 


Latitude. I Longitude. 


Depth. 


Sp. Gravity. 


Salt pr. Cent. 


38° 30' 
37° 30' 
36° 0' 


4°30 / E. 
1° 0' E. 
4° 40' W. 


450 fins. 

400 „ 
670 „ 


1-0294 
1-0295 

1-1288 


4-05 
3-99 
17-3 


Gibraltar 


36° r 


5° 22' W. 









Remarks on 
the ana- 
lysis. 



The high specific gravity here detected in No. 3, and 
the large amount of its saline contents, are so absolutely 
surprising, that I was in hopes that long ere this the matter 
would have had a fuller investigation ; especially as Admiral 
Sir Edward Codrington promised both Dr. Wollaston and 
myself that he would attend to it, and for that purpose 
took out the machine I had used ; but the Battle of Nava- 
rino clapped the stopper on. Meanwhile, my friend Sir 
Charles Lyell objects to the doctor's postulatum of carry- 



SPECIFIC GRAVITY. 



131 



ino- the salt out of the Mediterranean, on the inference that 
the dense water cannot possibly escape, because the bottom 
of the sea rises between Gapes Spartel and Trafalgar, as 
appears ' by Captain Smyth's soundings, which Dr. Wollas- 
ton had not seen;' and he therefore concludes, that great 
quantities of salt would probably be deposited on the bed 
of that sea, in consequence of such a submarine barrier. 
Yet this ingenious theory can hardly be the true one, since 
the armings of our lead would have brought up salt from 
the deepest bottoms, instead of the mud, sand, and shells 
which we found. We still require much further informa- 
tion upon this subject; but in the meantime, I think cause 
will be shown why Dr. Wollaston cannot be right : indeed, 
it is not improbable that we might have struck upon a 
spring of brine. (See page 160.) 

As the question is of high import, it may be as well to 
compare the specific gravity of Mediterranean water in 
various parts of its extent, and at various depths, with that 
of the Atlantic Ocean, of which the mean is assumed as 
= 1*0283. The results obtained in the Aid were, by means 
of Clarke's hydrometer, so delicately adjusted, that when 
placed in distilled water, the mark of 100 grains exactly 
coincided with the surface line; and the experiments were 
made only in the finest weather : — 



SirC.Lyell's 
objection. 



Specific 
gravity. 



Place. Experimenter. 

The Strait of Gibraltar . . . Marcet 

Inside the Strait (50 miles) . . Wollaston 

Off Marseilles Tennant 

Between Spain and the Baleares Smyth 

Between Minorca and Barbary . Wollaston 

Between Carthagena and Oran . Wollaston 

Between Sardinia and Naples . Smyth 

In the mouth of the Adriatic . Smyth 

Between Malta and Cyrene . . Smyth 

Entrance of the Hellespont . . Marcet 

Mouth of the Bosphorus . . . Marcet 

The Black Sea Marcet 



Depth. 

Fathoms. 

250 

670 

(surface) 

* 8 

450 

400 

60 

45 

60 

34 

30 

(surface) 



Sp. Gi-avity. 
1-0301 
1-1288 
1-0273 
1-0270 
1-0294 
1-0295 
1-0285 
1-0291 
1-0283 
1-0282 
1-0144 
1-0141 



Some of these and other sea-waters being submitted to 
analysis by Dr. Marcet, he obtained this final result of the 

K 2 



Compo- 
nents 



132 COMPONENTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. 

components precipitated by evaporation from 500 grains of 
the fluid ; namely — 

Muriate of soda 13-8 

Sulphate of soda 2*33 

Muriate of lime 0'975 

1 Muriate of magnesia 4 -955 

21-460* 

While these crucial experiments were in hand, Dr. Wol- 
laston put the question, as to whether it was not probable 

rotash. that traces of potash might be found in sea-water ? Dr. 
Marcet instantly conceived its possibility, and begged 
Wollaston himself to test his own suggestion, which being 
complied with, the fact was soon established. {Phil. Trans. 
1819, pp. 199 — 203). From the discovery of substances 
not previously known to exist in sea- water, Dr. Marcet 
much wished to repeat and correct his analyses; but he was 
not spared for that purpose, or he might have detected the 

iodine and two new elements — iodine and bromine — which have been 
faintly traced in oceanic fluid since his death. Perhaps the 
most perfect analysis hitherto made of Mediterranean 
water, is that of M. Laurens {Journal de Pharmacie, xxi. 
93):— 

Grains. 

Water 959-06 

Chloride of sodium 27*22 

Chloride of magnesium . . . 6*14 
Sulphate of magnesia . . . . 7 02 

Sulphate of lime 0*15 

Carbonate of lime 0*09 

Carbonate of magnesia . . . 0"11 

Carbonic acid 0"20 

Potash 001 

Iodine . faint trace. 

Extractive matter .... a trace. 

1000-00 

Mediterra- Several elements of inquiry have, however, remained 

nean . 

physics, almost untouched, the principal of which relate to light, 

* It should be remarked, that those ingredients which sea- water holds 
in a state of complete solution, are not united with it by any very intimate 
chemical combination, for they can be separated by distillation : yet the 
union is far from being simply mechanical. 



SEA PRESSURE. 



133 



heat, and the calorific effects actually in operation. It is 
admitted that the sea is impregnated with a mixture of 
gases, which especially affect the portion near its surface : 
yet M. Biot found that water which he drew up from a depth 
of 550 fathoms, yielded a mixture which contained no less 
than twenty-eight hundredths of respirable oxygen. ' But 
here/ he observes, l several important questions in terrestrial 
physics present themselves, which cannot be solved by the 
apparatus I then employed. In proportion to the descent 
into the sea, does the pressure of the superior portion upon Pressure, 
the inferior become greater ; and as a column of sea-water, 
eleven yards in height, is nearly of the same weight as a 
column of air of an equal base, extending from the surface 
of the earth to the limit of the atmosphere, it follows that, 
at a depth of 1100 yards, the water sustains a pressure of 
100 atmospheres. How enormous, then, must this pressure 
be on beds still lower, if the mean depth of the sea, at a 
distance from the coasts, extends for several miles, as the 
laws of gravitation seem to indicate/ A question thence 
arises, as to the depth of water necessary to produce the 
liquefaction of those gases. Estimating the height of a 
column of water equal to the pressure of an atmosphere in 
the usual way, at thirty-four feet, and neglecting the saline 
contents of the sea, as well as the probable compression of 
water itself at vast depths, Dr. Faraday has shown (Philo- Faraday. 
sophical Transactions for 1823) the pressure and tempera- 
ture at which the gaseous substances below enumerated 
become liquid in his experiments; and it results that those 
gases could not exist as such below the depths marked in 
feet on the last column. 



Feet. 



Sulphurous acid gas liquefies under 


2 atmospheres, 


at 45° .. 


68 


Cyanogen gas ,, 


36 „ 


45° .. 


123 


Chlorine gas ,, 


4 


60° .. 


136 


Ainmoniaeal gas „ 


6-5 


50° .. 


221 


Sulphuretted hydrogen gas ,, 


17 


50° .. 


578 


Carbonic acid gas „ 


36 


32° .. 


1224 


Muriatic acid gas ,, 


40 


50° .. 


1360 


Nitrous oxide gas ,, 


50 


45° .. 


17()<> 



134 



BOTTOM OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. 



Fundus 
maris. 



Don at i 



Bottom 
of the 
Adriatic. 



The fundus maris, or bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, 
must, except inferentially, remain mostly unknown ; but 
recent surveys — together with the labours of Count Marsigli 
off the coasts of Provence and Languedoc, and those of 
Dr. Donati in the Adriatic — go far to prove that this vast 
basin, at its creation, was composed of the same substances 
as the rest of the earth is ; and that an artificial bottom of 
depositions and incrustations has filled all the interstices. 
In the forty-ninth volume of the Philosophical Trans- 
actions, Mr. Trembley gives a summary of Donates con- 
tribution towards a ' Natural History of the Adriatic Sea/ 
the conclusions from which shall be subjoined : and although 
the Mediterranean basin is so extensive, and covered in 
most parts with an unfathomable depth of water, the 
observations of the Italian Professor on the available portion 
which he experimented upon, are of great value in an 
endeavour to form a judgment of the whole : — 

His (Donati's) inquiries have enabled him to determine, upon his own 
knowledge, that there is very little difference between the bottom of the 
Adriatic Sea and the surface of the neighbouring countries. There are at 
the bottom of the water, mountains, plains, valleys, and caverns, just as 
upon the land. The soil consists of different strata, placed one upon another ; 
and, for the most part, parallel and correspondent to those of the rocks, 
islands, and neighbouring continents. They contain stones of different 
sorts, minerals, metals, various petrified bodies, pummice-stones, and lavas 
formed by volcanoes. 

Istria, Morlachia, Dalmatia, Albania, and some other adjacent countries, 
as well as the rocks, the islands, and the correspondent bottom of the 
Adriatic Sea, consist of a whitish marble, of an uniform grain, and of almost 
an equal hardness. It is of that kind of marble called by the Italians 
marmo di Rovigno, and known to the ancients by the name of marmot- 
Tvaguriense. 

This vast bed of marble, in many places under both the earth and sea, is 
interrupted by several other kinds of marble, and covered by a great variety 
of bodies. There are discovered there, for instance, gravel, sand, and earths 
more or less fat. 

The variety of these soils under the sea is remarkable. It is to this that 
Dr. Donati ascribes the varieties observed with respect to the nature and 
quantity of plants and animals found at the bottom of the sea. Some places 
are inhabited by a great number of different species of plants and animals ; 
in others, only some particular species are found; and lastly, there are other 
places, in which neither plants nor animals are to be met with. 

The observations not only point out to us the affinity and resemblance 



SILT-BEARING ACTION. 135 

between the surface of the earth and the bottom of the sea, but may like- 
wise contribute to discover to us one cause of the varieties which are 
observed in the distribution of the marine fossils found in the earth. 

Having had the advantage of the experience of Donati, Adriatic 

actions. 

Fortis, and De Luccio, I paid much attention to their 
results, and found the operation of the winds and currents 
of the Adriatic to be very uniform. The accumulation of 
matter on the western shore is readily accounted for by the 
constant set of the waters along the coasts of Albania, 
Dalmatia, and Istria ; from whence they sweep along by 
Friuli, Venice, and Romagna, bearing their own silts, and 
carrying along the alluvial deposits of the rivers at the 
head of the Gulf: insomuch that the Yenetian ports are 
encumbered, Ravenna is now high and dry inland ; and from 
thence to the Isonzo, there is an uninterrupted series of 
terrene accessions. A singular effect is observed from the Singular 

effect 

occasional strength of the river action over that of the 
current. Between the Malamocco and Parenzo, about the 
middle of the passage, there is a muddy bank resting on 
the solid limestone and concretions ; it is about three miles 
in breadth, and in length extends to opposite Comacchio. 
In calms, the surface above it appears smooth and nearly 
stagnant, while the current which runs on each side, being 
weakened by diffusion over it, deposits matter in the centre ; 
and thus, in the lapse of ages, an island may be formed. 
The coast just to the north of it, having its rivers under 
tidal action, though small, is broken into estuaries ; but as 
that action weakens, it enables the Po to form a delta. 
The bottom, however, of that part of the Adriatic between 
the Po and Trieste, being everywhere of moderate depths, 
forms a submarine plateau, which must be considered 
as only the continuation of the great plains of Lombardy 
and Friuli. 

A study of the motions in the Adriatic waters affords a 
tolerable clue to those of the Mediterranean in general. 
When fresh winds, by their friction, for any considerable 



136 HYDROGRAPHIC DIVISIONS. 

time, force the surface waters home in some given direction 
against the coast, the movement is quite sufficient to carry 
any mechanically-suspended substances to distances pro- 
portionate to the strength and duration of the cause : and 
when a current of water freighted with matter passes a pro- 
jecting point, or flows through a narrow channel, so that by 
pressure and resistance its rapidity is increased, and passes 
from thence into a bay or opening, where its force is 
weakened by diffusion, it will deposit the chief part of its 
burden at the bottom of that wider space. It is thus by 
natural means, in ceaseless action, that constant cargoes of 
detritus and matter in solution are borne to the sea, and 
there committed to the currents by rivers and torrents ; 
and to these are added the heavy occasional falls of the 
cinders, ashes, and lapilli, thrown out from volcanoes. It 
is not, therefore, matter of surprise, that the sedimentary 
accumulations should have formed a thick coating over the 
whole bottom. 
Basins. Perhaps the most remarkable submarine feature of the 

Mediterranean is its perfect hydrographic division into two 
great basins by the form of its bottom ; thus confirming the 
allotment made by geographers from a study of the form 
of its shores. The barrier at the entrance of the Straits 
marks the commencement of the western basin, which de- 
scends to an abysmal profundity, and extends as far as the 
central part of this sea, where it flows over another barrier, 
and again falls into the as yet unfathomed depths of the 
Levant basin. My means were not equal to my wishes in 
examining this surprising fact ; but after fixing (or rather 
discovering) the subaqueous bank to which I gave the 
Adventure name of Adventure, I got occasional moderate soundings 

Bank. ' 8 .,.,.„ 

nearly across from Sicily to Tunis, in a winding line of 
connexion crowned by the Skerki rocks — doubtless, as 
already stated, the now-abraded Arse of Virgil (see page 93). 
Yet in making an occult line on my chart, to indicate this 
rise from a depth at present beyond estimate, I by no 



THE ADVENTURE BANK. 



137 



i i i 

!! !. 



*v 



opopoooooo 

— ■M rc -r ..-. -C I- X C> C 



means meant it as a mark for shoal 
water in which navigation is concerned ; 
for though I found occasional spots of 
from 30 to 90 fathoms, and still less 
near the central reefs, there were 140, 
157, and 260 fathoms on either side, as 
also places where 190 and 230 fathoms 
of line were run out without striking 
bottom. The Adventure Bank is deve- 
loped from this deep ridge, and is a com- 
paratively shallow plateau, affording Submarine 
good anchorage in many parts ; and it 
is much frequented by fish. A section 
through these basins carried across Pa- 
lestine into that chasm, the Valley of 
the Jordan and the Dead Sea — which Dead Sea. 
last is 350 fathoms deep, with a surface 
256 fathoms below the level of the 
Mediterranean — would unfold a won- 
derful geological structure in the eastern 
boundary. Another section through the 
central part, in a line of 240 miles north- 
west and south-east, through the Skerki 
and Adventure banks, under a propor- 
tion of thirty in length to one in depth, 
is given in the annexed diagram. 

While Sicily is thus shown to be a Continental 

. & Pelagic 

continental island, there is that prodi- islands, 
gious depth of water around Corsica and 
Sardinia which marks them at once as 
pelagic : and the Mediterranean in 
general is so much deeper than analogy 
and the proximity of lands would lead 
us to expect, as to countenance the 
idea of its sunken basins being partly 
formed by volcanic agency. 



138 FORM OF THE COASTS. 

Coast con- On glancing over the general chart, we cannot but be 

tour. . . 

struck with the marked difference between the northern and 
southern distribution of the great terrestrial masses which 
give form and feature to the coasts : yet, however accidental 
that contrariety may appear to be, it offers a characteristic 
development in geological chronology, since there could not 
have been any depression or elevation of the included 
waters, without a sensible alteration of littoral contour, such 
constituting the true line of contact between the land and 
the sea surface. Such a datum is absolutely necessary to 
further inquiry, for the whole shores are as remarkable for 
difference of altitude as for variety of outline. 

In giving an opinion on the general permanence of the 
sea-level, I am aware that many men, and some of them of 
respectable authority, have entertained a different view ; 
but modern accuracy has dissipated most of the classic and 
mediaeval visions on this point. In the tenth century, Omar 

Omar el- . . . 

Aaiem. el-Aalem (Omar the Wise), attacked the question with 
laborious industry, and produced his work on the *Ebh (el 
jezr) of the Sea. On comparing the documents of his own 
time with some said to have been written 2000 years before, 
he became convinced that important changes had taken 
place from the subsidence of the waters ; and he considered 
his opinion to be confirmed by the numerous salt-ponds in 
the interior of Asia, a conclusion also recently arrived at by 
Pallas, the eminent Prussian traveller. Even had Omar 
been misled, as hath been suggested, by the features and 
phenomena of the Caspian Sea, he might have recanted 
his error, without fear of the banishment, or impeachment 
of his understanding, which he actually incurred. But his 
intention is not very clear; and possibly his work refers 
only to the effect of tides observable in the Persian Gulf, 
Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. 



139 



§ 3. The Extent, Supply, and Evaporation 
of the Mediterranean Sea. 



rPHE headlands, bays, and sinuosities in the margin of 
-■- this aqueous expanse — so many centuries acted upon 
by the united effects of breakers, wind- wave action, tidal 
streams, and terrene displacement — render it difficult to 
state dimensions with positive accuracy in a few words ; 
and even the entering into comparatively exact details 
would be tedious and indistinct. The substantial elements, 
however, shall be given, and for minute particulars the chart 
may be consulted. 

The Mediterranean Sea extends from the longitude of Extent. 
6° west to 36° east of Greenwich, while the extreme limits 
of its latitudes are from 30° to 46° north ; and, in round 
numbers, its length, from Gibraltar to its farthest extremity 
in Syria, is about 2000 miles, with a breadth varying from 
80 to 500 miles, and, including the Black Sea, a line of 
shore of 4500 leagues. The ancients, who considered this 
sea a very large portion of the terrestrial globe — although 
it turns out to be but equal to about one-seventieth part of 
the Pacific Ocean — assigned to it a much greater length, as 
will be shown in Part IV., § 1 ; but Strabo seems to have strata's m- 

. . . . P mensions. 

nattened-m largely, since his principal distances lor esta- 
blishing its length were : — 

Stadia. Nautic miles. 
From the Columns of Hercules to the Straits 

of Sicily 12,000 ... 1028 

( 'ape Pachynum to west end of Crete . . 4500 ... 380 

East end of Crete to Alexandria .... 3000 ... 257 

Alexandria to Rhodes 3600 ... 308 

From Rhodes to Iseus 5000 ... 429 

Measures so strangely distorted by Ptolemy ! 



140 THE AREA OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. 

The superficial extent of the Mediterranean Sea, as 
intercepted between its various limits, and calculated by 
the parallels of the latitudes and the longitudes of those 
limits, from thence deducing the areas in square statute 
miles (which are used by Halley), may be thus tabulated : — 

The Western Basin 325,272 

The Adriatic 52,819 

The Levant Basin 518,755 

The Archipelago 75,291 

The Sea of Marmora ...... 4,644 

The Black Sea „ 159,431 

The Sea of Azof 13,075 

Total surface .... 1,149,287 

Kivers. Including the Black Sea as a branch of the Mediterra- 

nean, the chief feeders of this vast sheet of waters are the 
great rivers Nile, Danube, Dnieper, Po, Ebro, and Rhone ; 
there are also the secondaries, Yar, Magra, Arno, Ombrone, 
Tiber, Adige, Isonzo, Tagliamento, Lo Drino, Samana, 
Achelous, Alpheius, Meander, Pyramus, Bagrada, and 
Mulvia ; besides which, the smaller streams and streamlets, 
with their tributaries, are almost innumerable. Contrary, 
therefore, to the long-received opinion respecting the scanty 
supply of water poured into this sea by rivers, the quantity 
which it is constantly receiving forms an important integer ; 
although a number of these streams may not run above 
a hundred miles, and the drainage of others may be com- 
paratively small in proportion to the surface through which 
they pass. 

Freshwater Moreover, fresh-water springs exist in the sea, near the 

springs. # . 

shore, which are more or less copious according to circum- 
stances ; but those of Stamfane rock and Syracuse are 
popularly held to proceed from the Alpheius by submarine 
communication.* In the Gulf of Spezzia there is a spring 



* In my Memoir of Sicily (page 171), it is mentioned that in the harbour 
of Syracuse, opposite the fountain of Arethusa — and probably from the same 
source — a copious spring of fresh water rises from the bottom, without 
intermingling with the brine. It is called Occhio clella Zilica, or Alpheius, 
which Moschus (Idyllium, viii.) represents as bearing leaves and sacred dust 
from Elis. 



FRESH-WATER SPRINGS. 141 

which constantly discharges a very considerable body ofspezzia. 
water, rising with such force as to produce a slight con- 
vexity on the surface ; this stream is probably derived from 
a system of cavernous passages in the neighbouring lime- 
stone rocks, but its place, as marked on my plan of the 
gulf, has been immemorially the same. In the Mare piccolo, 
or great port of Taranto, and at some distance from the Taranto. 
mouth of the Galesus, fresh water springs up in such force 
and abundance that it may be taken up without the least 
brackish mixture ; and in the briny lagoon of Thau, at Thau. 
Cette, there is a deep spot called the Avysse, from which 
rushes up a column of potable water, with such force as even 
to make waves. Near Ragusa, the Kalamota Channel 
terminates in the port called Yal d' Ombla, which is watered 
by the Ariona, a subterranean river bursting up with Arfona. 
amazing volume and force from the foot of Mount Bergatz ; 
fresh-water springs are also copious in the gulfs of Cattaro 
and Aulona. At Agio Janni, below Parga, between the Agio Janni. 
mouths of the Acheron and Thyamis, is a circular space 
of fresh water, about forty feet in diameter, rising through 
the sea with great activity ; this is probably the ascending 
spring alluded to by Pausanias, (Arcad. vii.) Off the little 
desert islet, Ruad, near Tortosa on the coast of Syria, a Ruad. 
spring of fresh water gushes up in the sea in such volume, 
that it may be skimmed off without the slightest impregna- 
tion of salt. ' You may draw up potable water/ says 
Pliny, 'out of the sea about the Chelidoniae islands and 
at Aradus;' and there must be many unrecorded jets of Aradus. 
the same nature, mingling with the sea unnoticed. 

These may seem but insignificant addenda to the sup- 
plies of the Mediterranean, in the opinion of the brine- 
theorists ; but in the aggregate they form a goodly volume, 
and have all, perhaps, exerted their influence for many 
ages. The duration of some is matter of record. In the 
Argolicus Sinus, between Kiveri and Astros, is the Anavolo Anivoio. 
(Defoie), a copious spring of fresh water, rising with consi- 



142 THE DEINE SPRING. 

derable strength through the sea, at the distance of about a 
quarter of a mile from the shore. If this can be reconciled 
to the rather vague early notices with which it substantially 
corresponds, it must have been thus in action for nearly 
1700 years at least. From the account of Pausanias, Deine 
appears to be the emissary of the Zarethra, which drained 
the plain of Argos (Apyov, inert) ; and it is thus described by 

Coi. Leake, my friend Colonel Leake : — c The body of fresh water appears 
to be not less than fifty feet in diameter. The weather 
being very calm this morning, I perceive that it rises with 
such force as to form a convex surface, and it disturbs the 
sea for several hundred feet around. In short, it is evidently 
the exit of a subterranean river of some magnitude/ — 
(Travels in the Morea, vol. ii. p. 480.) 

Percolation. The general percolation is also very great : Pliny the 
Younger, giving a description of his villa near Ostia, to 
Gallus, mentions the wells in his garden, adding, 'And 
indeed the quality of this coast is rather remarkable ; for 
in whatever part soever you dig, you meet, upon the first 
turning up of the ground, with a spring of pure water, not 
in the least salt, though so near the sea/ I have also 

Reaches, noticed the same on the beaches of Calabria, the Terra di 
Bari, and the Capitanata ; and in my account of Sicily, I 
mentioned the well of good fresh water at Milazzo, which, 
though several feet below the level of the sea, is so near, 
that it is only sheltered from the surf by a wall. In the 
same work, I also state, that on both sides of the Faro of 
Messina, ' pure, though rather hard, fresh water is procured, 
by digging a hole in the sand, within two or three feet of 
the margin of the sea ; this is occasioned by the filtering 
and percolation of the fiumare (torrents), which, though 
apparently dry, are never actually so ; and this accounts, in 
some measure, for the malaria arising on their banks/* 



* Though not exactly in the same line of argument, perhaps I ought to 
mention those ebullitions near the volcanic regions, which arise from an 



MEDITERRANEAN RIVERS. 



143 



It may be that, without the constant supplies from the River 

* . drainage. 

Straits of Gibraltar and the Black Sea, the Mediterranean 
would not receive an equivalent to the loss by evaporation 
from its rivers and atmospheric precipitation: but from 
what is here advanced, it is evident that conclusions have 
been made per saltum, and that the question requires a 
more assiduous attention than it has yet received. It must 
be acknowledged, however, that great strides towards a 
fuller knowledge have been made ; and the intelligent 
Berghaus presents the following data for the condition and Berghaus. 
extent of drainage by the larger rivers : — 

MEDITERRANEAN FLUVIAL SYSTEM. 



Rivers. 


Basins in 
square 
miles. 


Direct 

length in 

geographical 

miles. 


Develop- 
ment in 
geographical 
miles. 


Extent 

of 

windings. 


Ratio of 
windings 
to direct 
length. 


Nile . . 


. 520,200 


... 1320 . 


. 2240 .. 


. 920 . 


.. 07 


Danube . 


. 234,080 


... 880 . 


. 1496 .. 


. 616 . 


. 07 


Dnieper . 


. 169,680 


... 548 . 


. 1080 .. 


. 532 . 


. 1-0 


Don . . 


. 168,420 


... 408 . 


. 960 .. 


. 552 . 


. 1-8 


Po . . 


29,950 


... 232 . 


. 352 .. 


. 120 . 


. 0-5 


Rhone . 


. 28,160 


... 248 . 


. 560 .. 


. 352 . 


. 1-4 


Ebro . . 


. 25,100 


... 268 . 


. 420 .. 


. 152 . 


. 0-5 


Dniester 


. 23,040 


... 360 . 


. 440 .. 


. 80 . 


. 0-2 



abundant disengagement of carbonic acid gas, sulphuretted hydrogen, and 
other hot vapours from subaqueous vents ; for some of them being solvent, 
and others capable of decomposing rocks, they cannot be without effects. 
One of these, near Panaria, in the iEolian islands, is thus described in ray 
account of Sicily (page 260) : ' In this strait, a strong smell of sulphur is 
perceptible ; and in two places, near the north extremity, are springs emit- 
ting sulphureous gas, the bubbles of which rise in quick and constant succes- 
sion to the surface, where they have been known to flame on bursting in the 
atmospheric air. Wishing to ascertain something respecting this indication, 
I submerged a thermometer in a bottle, which I found gave 97° of 
Fahrenheit, in 21 feet of water ; but not satisfied with the result, I had a 
tin tube made for me by an ingenious mechanic of Messina, with a valve at 
each end, which, as it descended, allowed a free passage to the water ; but 
on being drawn up, closed at both ends by the pressure, and contained a 
sufficient quantity of water to keep the thermometer to the heat of the 
depth to which it was lowered. The result obtained was 105° in 22 feet of 
water, while at the surface it was 84°, and at a mile distant the temperature 
of the sea was 70,J,°, that of the atmosphere at the same time being 71°.' 
This was on the 22nd of April, 1815. 



144 SUM OF THE RUNNING WATERS. 

Supply and Such is the tabulated view of a general system ; but in 

loss. ... 

the river with which I am personally best acquainted, the 
Po, the numbers are small, for that rex fluviorum of Italian 
streams, and its tributaries, assuredly drain a basin, the 
area of which cannot be much less than 40,000 square miles. 
In further assumptions on the dimensions and velocities of 
the principal effluents, M. Berghaus shows, that by taking 
the running waters of Europe as unity, or 1*00, the quantity 
discharged into the Black Sea will be as high as 0*27 parts, 

Proportion while the Mediterranean receives only 0*14 ; the former 
water, ingulfing nearly one-third part of all the running water of 
Europe. As these supplies must be deemed far too little 
to compensate the loss in vapour of so great a surface under 
a powerful and often cloudless sun and hot winds — where 
the air is proved by hygrometrical registers to have only 
half the moisture of the English atmosphere — the oceanic 
influx through the Straits, together with the surplus of the 
Euxine, constantly flowing through the Dardanelles, may 
be cited as making up the deficiency. Yet as these grand 

steadiness affluents produce no perceptible increase in the height of 
the internal waters, that circumstance has attracted the 
attention of philosophers ; but trustworthy evidence is still 
a desideratum. Theorists, indeed, threaten us with the 
filling up of the Black Sea, in a handful of ages, by which 
the shallower parts of the Levant Basin may become 
exposed, and a new adjustment of levels take place : yet 
even under this condition, this sea would conform itself to 
the requisite balance, by means of its free communication 
with the ocean, between Spain and Africa, where the stream, 
as Horace said of his imaginary river, ceaseless flows and 
must for ever flow — 



At ille 



Labitur, et labetur in omne volubilis aevum. 

Haiiey's This brings us to the celebrated Halleian theory, which 

is still the ne plus ultra of a numerous series of Mediter- 
ranean inquirers ; and which, having been proved by expe- 



HALLEY'S THEORY. 145 

riments at once plausible and ingenious, demands a brief 
recapitulation in this section. 

Halley — in whatever light we consider his extraordinary Haiiey. 
powers of mind and wonderful diversity of knowledge — was 
one of the most remarkable of a galaxy of giants in science 
and literature, who illustrated the close of the seventeenth 
century, and therefore must be approached with deference 
and respect, even where there may exist a difference of 
opinion from him : at all events, he is entitled to the full 
merit of originality, nor would it be prudent to differ from 
him without strong reasons. His essays on the quantity of 
vapour raised out of the sea by the heat of the sun, are 
printed in the Philosophical Transactions, and in the 
first volume of the Miscellanea Curiosa. Upon certain 
assumptions derived from experiment, Halley holds that 
' every ten square inches of the surface of the water, yields 
in vapour, per diem, a cube-inch of water ; and each square 
foot half a wine-pint ; every space of four foot, a gallon ; a 
mile square, 6914 tons ; a square degree, supposed of sixty- 
nine English miles, will evaporate thirty-three millions of 
tons : and if the Mediterranean be estimated at forty 
degrees long, and four broad, allowances being made for 
the places where it is broader by those where it is narrower 
(and I am sure I ghess (sic) at the least), there will be 160 
square degrees (761,760 statute miles) of sea ; and conse- 
quently the whole Mediterranean must lose in vapour, in a Lossbyeva- 
summer's day, at least 5280 millions of tons/ This he 
esteems to be a vast quantity, though as little as can be 
concluded from the trials he made, adding — ' And yet there 
remains another cause, which cannot be reduced to rule, I 
mean the winds, whereby the surface of the water is licked 
up sometimes faster than it exhales by the heat of the sun ; 
as is well known to those that have considered those drying 
winds which blow sometimes/ Our philosopher then pro- 
ceeds very methodically to show, and gives figures for it, 
that little more than one-third of this is returned by the 

L 



146 HALLEY'S THEORY. 

nine great rivers — ' the Iberus, the Bhone, the Tiber, the 
Po, the Danube, the Neister, the Borysthenes, the Tanais, 
and the Nile, all the rest being of no great note, and their 
quantity of water inconsiderable/ Under this impression, 
by a laboured estimate founded on a calculation of the 
waters of the Thames at Kingston Bridge, he concludes 
that the nine rivers contribute only 1827 millions of tons 
in a day. 
Remarks on Now it is inconceivable that one of such accurate powers 

the theory. 

of calculation as Halley unquestionably possessed, should 
have established so plausible a theory on such very imperfect 
data ; and it is still more inconceivable that it should have 
stood so long unshaken, although his own argument proves at 
once the fallacy of its premises, and consequently the untena- 
bleness of its result. With all the deference just mentioned, 
and esteeming Captain Halley as a brother naval officer, as 
well as a brother-surveyor, I cannot look upon the keeping a 
small vessel of water, by means of a pan of coals, for several 
hours at a summer-heat in this country, and measuring the 
decreasing weight of water in a given time, to arrive at the 
amount of evaporation, as at all meriting confidence ; espe- 
cially as he has not given us the degree of ' summer heat/ 
although so main a point, and one of which he records that 
Haiiey's the thermometer showed it nicely. However, by the method 
pursued, he found that a depth of 0*1 inch, from a surface 
of eight inches in diameter, was vaporized in twelve hours; 
and lumping together the summer and winter, as well as 
nights and days, of the thus assumed Mediterranean, he 
reckoned that the same depth, 0*1 inch, may on the average 
be evaporated every twenty-four hours. Starting with this 
very arbitrary and doubtful quantity from his ' little pan/ in 
which even the salted water was artificial, he obtained the 
normal numbers just cited, by ' exact calculus/ Aliquando 
bonus dormitat Homerus : besides the jumble of inferen- 
tial brought into play, one of the most obvious and tangible 
conditions of the theory is more than one-third of its 



method. 



THE THEORY RE-EXAMINED. 147 

whole amount in error ; for the surface of the Mediter- Substantial 

error. 

ranean, by recent measurements, has been shown to be 
1,149,287 square statute miles, instead of 761,760 : so that 
the proportionate quantity of evaporation — or property by 
which water has the power of emitting vapour of an elastic 
force proportioned to its temperature — by Halley's own 
rule would be 7966 millions of tons, instead of 5280 : 
millions, per diem. And it should have been recollected, 
as a peculiarity of inland seas, that their shores in summer 
are of a higher temperature than water, and hence the aerial 
dryness already alluded to : it therefore follows, that the 
vaporization over such places will be much greater than ' 
that of the ocean, in the same parallels, where the air, 
saturated with aqueous vapour, continues at the same heat 
for several days successively. 

But as the Halleian Theory had become a received Re-exami- 

. 1 nation of 

postulate in Mediterranean physics, it struck me that it theexpe- 
would be as well to re-examine the whole argument ; and in 
order to test its merits, with better materials than Halley's, 
the latest surveys, adjusted to the points determined by 
Captain Gauttier and myself, were brought to bear on 
the question. The superficial dimensions were established 
by rectangular sections of each of the chart divisions being 
neatly cut to the limiting parallels of latitude and longi- 
tude, and then carefully weighed with a delicate balance : 
but as the evaporation from the sea must be in proportion 
to the quantity of surface presented by the water to the 
evaporative influence, it follows that, from the interposition 
of islands and promontories, the quantity would be very 
unequal at different places, — a point which was not con- 
sidered in Halley's computations. Moreover, another 
quantity in the inquiry, depth, is still beset with uncer- 
tainty, — for though I sounded beyond 1000 fathoms with- 
out striking the bottom, further experiments to ascertain 
the greatest profundity were inconsistent with my means 
and time, and therefore, in some of the deductions which will 



148 METHOD OF TREATMENT. 

Assumed follow, I resorted to a geographical mile as a unit of depth, 
which inference fully warrants. After this operation, tables 
were drawn up, of which that on the opposite page is an 
abstract : in which, as the third column of numbers is, from 
what I have just stated, but a guess, the cubic contents will 
necessarily be vague and inconclusive, being only intended 

Sea of Azof, as a mere assumption. From this remark, however, the Sea 
of Azof may be excepted, since a fair approximation to the 
amount of its contents can be obtained. This sea, which 
— if the assertion of Herodotus (Melpomene, lxxxvi.) has 
any value — must have greatly contracted its boundaries 
even within the historical period, having been well sounded 
throughout, allowed our weighing process to be conducted 
with such nicety as to be within 0.1 grain = about seven 
square miles. The mean depth was ascertained by crossing 
the sea in seven different directions, noting the soundings at 
short intervals along each line, and then taking an average 
of the whole. This may answer well enough in the present 
state of the question ; but greater accuracy might have been 
obtained by priming the chart paper with linseed-oil, and 
some preparation of lead, to increase its weight. An ex- 
ample of the treatment may suffice : — 



Measured Surface of Measured Surface 

Basin. we jt f Log. 8ections , Log. »& M Log. of sea 

of the y as compared * of sea u 

sections. above. only. 



deduced. 



tion. 



Grains. Statute miles. Grains. Sq.stat. miles. 

Western 518'57 .. 2-7148074 .. 331,257 .. 5-5201651 .. 509-20 .. 2-7068884 .. 325,272 

Adriatic 91-30 .. ) -9604708 .. 54,147 .. 47335744 .. 89-06 .. 1-9496827 .. 52,819 

other treat- Some of the methods of bringing out the deductions 
tt^ques- about to be given, are considerably altered from those used 
by Halley, because — I. A day is too short a period : a 
whole year should be taken as a cycle, in which all the va- 
rying temperatures of the different seasons complete their 
rounds, and become equalized. II. As the initial or start- 
ing point is 01 inch evaporated in twenty-four hours, there 
was no occasion for leaving this linear measure, and going 
to measures of capacity and weight — as wine-pints and tons; 



METHOD OF TREATMENT. 



149 



more especially as all the other quantities are in measures Conditions 
of length : and by keeping to one quantity throughout, the 
subsequent correction of the result is so much the more 
easy, should more correct experimental data be afterwards 
procured. Taking, therefore, 0*1 inch in twenty-four hours 
to be -000001515150 of an English statute mile in the 
same length of time, and '0005533973 of a mile in one 
year, the quantity evaporated is here given in cubic miles. 
III. The evaporation about Alexandria must be so very 
much greater than in the Sea of Azof, that in stating the 
amount for each basin, some modification of the mean 
quantity adopted for the whole Mediterranean, became 
necessary. Considering, therefore, that under the equator 
and a vertical sun the vaporization would be a maximum, 
and that under the perpetual ice at the pole it would be 
nothing, the amount may safely be assumed to vary as the 
cosine of the latitude — the 0*1 inch in twenty-four hours 
being considered the quantity at 40° of polar altitude. On 
that principle, therefore, the evaporated quantities of each 
basin have been modified according to their distance above 
or below 40 degrees of latitude ; and the following are the 
results — 



Division. 

The Western Basin 
The Adriatic Sea . 
The Levant Basin . 
The Archipelago 



Mean 
latitude. 

39° 00' 
42 30 
34 30 

37 45 



'he Sea of Marmora 40 40 



The Black Sea . 
The Sea of Azof 



43 45 
46 15 



Mediterranean total 



Area in 
square 
miles. 

, 325,272 

52,819 

518,755 

75,291 

4,644 

159,431 

13,075 

1,149,287 



Depth in 
miles ? 

•9 
1 



•1 

•05 

•107 

•0079 



Cubic Annl. evap. 
contents in in cubic 
cubic miles ? 



292,744 

5,282 

311,253 

7,529 

232 

17.059 

102-9 

634,201-9 



inches. 

180-66 

28-13 

308-84 

43-01 

254 

83-20 

653 

652-91 



In conclusion : — Halley also attempted to get at the Evapora- 
quantity returned in the form of showers. This he hoped 
to obtain by calculating the tons of water brought down by 
the various Mediterranean rivers ; of which, taking about 
half a dozen, and estimating that each brings down ten 
times as much water as the Thames, he finds the evapora- 



150 CONCLUSIONS ON HALLEY'S THEORY. 

tion more than sufficient to meet the supply. Hence, some 
have imagined danger, from an inevitable and constant 
concentration of brine. 

River pro- Now these assumptions are desperately inaccurate, since 

his stated capacity of the rivers is involved in error ; the 
Nile alone being considered to deliver annually into the 
Mediterranean a body of water about 250 times that which 
flows out of the Thames ; and the estimated lengths of the 
two principal streams, compared with the Thames as unity, 
are Danube 7, and Nile 12f times. Starting with his 
diminutive quantity of 01 inch in twenty-four hours, we 
may put that down as equivalent to 36*523 inches in the 
course of a year, a normal point in Halley's computations, and 
more than the quantity now assigned for the mean fall of 
rain for the whole temperate region of the old world, which 

Rain. is 34 inches. Yet, although the fall of rain differs widely 
in the various Mediterranean countries — especially as re- 
gards the vicinity of the Atlantic on the west, or the arid 
shores to the south — the average annual quantity, care- 
fully estimated from the evidence of many registers, is 
under twenty inches per annum; so that the evaporated 
water, after having returned twenty inches by precipitation 
to whence it was extracted, has 16,523 inches to spare for 
distribution over a space of land of equal extent with the 
sea. And when we augment the 16*523 of Mediterranean 
rain, on account of the powerful energy of atmospheric pre- 
cipitation, that must be derived from the vast volumes of 
vapour ever rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean, there is 
evidently an abundant supply, even on the Halleian data, for 
the whole of those countries which drain into the Inner Sea. 

Remark in Still, assuming — as we have reason to do — that the 
' main exit of the surplus water of this sea is by evaporation, 
then to get the actual quantity evaporated in one year, we 
ought to measure all the water that falls into it at the 
mouths of all the rivers, and at the Straits of Gibraltar and 
the Dardanelles; and if to this we were to add the real 



MEDITERRANEAN CURRENTS. 151 

contemporaneous fall of rain, then, and then only, would 
the required quantity be obtained. Meantime it may be 
implicitly relied upon, that all is right, for it is evident that 
Nature comprehends the exquisite system of compensation, 
and knows no waste. 



§ 4. On the Currents of the Mediterranean. 

T)Y the term ' currents' is understood those progressive Currents. 
4-J movements of the water by which vessels, or anything 
floating upon it, are carried in their direction, and precisely 
with their own velocity, when no wind prevails. Currents 
differ essentially from tides, in deriving their motion from 
other causes than solar and lunar attraction ; and in their 
constant circulation they traverse extensive regions, where 
they necessarily emit or imbibe heat. But though it is in- 
ferred that currents may extend to a vast depth, our exact 
acquaintance with them is nearly confined to the super- 
natant effects only. They appear to be in continual motion Motion and 
in a certain direction ; yet their course must be treated 
with relation to the points of divergence and convergence 
of their route, for it is well known that irregularities of 
outline in the shore, without any reference to elevation or 
depression, have very considerable consequences in modify- 
ing the action of the sea, by turning the course of both 
current and tidal streams. It may readily be inferred that 
currents perform important offices in the grand economy of 
nature, disturbing the general hydrostatic pressure, render- 
ing the fluid favourable to submarine vegetation and pisca- 
tory life, and preventing stagnation by agitating the waters : 
but we are still in comparative ignorance of them, for their 
extent, direction, depth, strength, and temperature are very 
various, and often fluctuating. Currents are always named 
after the points of the compass towards whicli they run or 



152 COMPARATIVE SEA-LEVEL. 

set ; being therein exactly the reverse of wind, which is 
designated according to the point from which it blows. 

That progressive movement of the waters in the Medi- 
terranean which is independent of tide, and constitutes a 
true current, is more remarkable for constancy than strength, 
except in places where local peculiarities exert a peculiar 
influence, and prevailing winds occasion a difference of 
level. We have just seen that evaporation has so powerful 
an action as probably to cause a general proportional de- 
pression of surface, and thus give rise to the principal 
phenomena already mentioned. From obvious causes, this 
Inner Sea is, for the greater part of its extent, warmer, 
both in summer and winter, than the Atlantic, which there- 
fore flows into it ; at the same time, the Black Sea is 
somewhat colder than the Mediterranean, and consequently 
flows into it also. 
Relative In all ages, wherever there are two neighbouring seas, 

seal it has been customary to consider that one was more 
elevated than the other ; and till very lately, the operations 
of modern inquirers countenanced the time-honoured 
opinion. Thus the early philosophers were borne out by 
Toaldo, in their notion that the Mediterranean was much 
higher than the Atlantic — thus Count Marsigli, the volu- 
minous historian of the Danube, showed that the ancients 
were justified in asserting that the Euxine was thirty or 
forty feet above the ordinary level of the iEgean — thus 
M. Fauvel confirmed the opinion given by the engineers of 
old to Demetrius Poliorcetes, that so great a difference in 
height existed between the gulfs of Egina and Corinth, 
that it would be dangerous to cut across the isthmus which 
divides them — and thus the observations of the French 
Egyptian Institute were supposed to prove that the surface 
of the Ked Sea is neither more nor less than twenty-eight 
feet higher than the Levant Basin ; whence it followed that 
the ancients were right. 

But what broken reeds are occasionallv trusted to ! 



COMPARATIVE SEA-LEVEL. 153 

Maraldi and Cassini pronounced the Mediterranean, as Observers, 
ascertained by them, to be exactly one toise higher than 
the Atlantic : the hall of the Paris observatory being forty- 
six toises above the ocean, and forty-five above the Inner 
Sea. Shortly afterwards, Count Morozzo showed that the 
Adriatic must be more elevated than the Mediterranean 
(Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences at Turin, 1788) ; 
and recently the still more precise observations of Delambre, 
Me'chain, Gauttier, myself, and MM. Corabceuf, Peytier, 
and Bourdaloue, have proved, by successive reductions of 
height, that in all and each of those places, the waters in 
repose have surfaces of so nearly the same level, that 
the differences are but barely ascertainable by our present 
improved instruments and methods of determination.* 
We must therefore look to all other probable causes 
for currents, besides a difference of level ; and however 
narrow the communication between the two seas may be, 
the Mediterranean is still part and parcel of the one vast 
expanse called the ocean :f and whatever may permanently 
affect the level of the one, must eventually affect the surface 
of the other also. The hypothesis, therefore, as to a durable 
depression of an actual branch of that ocean, will not stand 
the test of sound inquiry : were the Mediterranean always 
much lower than the Atlantic, it would be impossible for 
the current ever to set out of it, agreeably to the laws of 
hydrostatics, unless the body of waters should be influenced 
by winds or the attractions which cause tides. 

Besides the Halleian doctrine of evaporation, which supposed 
evidently solves much of the theorem, we must now bring current, 
forward the argument of other writers, that an under- 



* By General Monteith's experiments with boiling water at the mouth 
of the Kalla (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. iii. p. 37), he 
inferred that the Black Sea was precisely of the same level as the ocean, 
since the point of ebullition was exactly equal to 212° of Fahrenheit's scale. 

f Eustathius must have had currents in view when he derived the word 
Ocean from (iueco)£ vnuv, to slide swiftly. 



154 THE SUPPOSED UNDER-CURRENT. 

current — or one running counter to that at the surface — 
exists ; which is presumed to carry a vast volume of fluid 
back to the great ocean. I shall presently advance a fact or 
two which may present obstacles to this, but in the mean 
time a fair hearing shall be given to the hitherto received 
statements : and it must be recollected, that to establish a 
counter-current setting outwards below, unless a greater 
gravity be conceded, it is necessary that the Mediterranean 
water be of a lower temperature than that of the Atlantic, 
for otherwise it must run out at the surface, and the supply 
be received underneath. This is well known not to be the 
case ; yet, in order to avoid prejudgment, the instances 
usually brought forward shall be duly cited, for, without 
denying the subcurrent assumption, I merely insist that 
its existence is not yet proven. 
Dr. smith. The first formal paper on the subject, that I am aware 

of, was read before the Oxford Society on the 21st of 
December, 1683, and is printed in the fourteenth volume 
of the Philosophical Transactions. Dr. Smith mentions 
the vast draught of water poured continually in, and says : 

I here omit to speak of the several hypotheses, which have been invented 
to solve this difficulty : such as subterranean vents, cavities, and indraughts, 
exhalations by the sunbeams, the running out of the water on the African 
side, as if there were a kind of circular motion of the water, and it only 
flowed in upon the Christian shore : which latter I look upon as a mere 
fancy, and contrary to all observation. My conjecture is, that there is an 
undercurrent, whereby as great a quantity of water is carried out as comes 
flowing in. 

This shows, as Dr. Smith speaks of the several hypo- 
theses, that the phenomenon had been under discussion, 
and that the supposed existence of super and sub-currents 
has long been received. But one of the most notable in- 
stances in support of that opinion was afterwards brought 
before the Koyal Society, and published in the thirty-third 
volume of its Transactions. It is there stated that, in 
Captain the year 17 J 2, M. de TAigle, 'that fortunate and generous 
e ' commander of the privateer called the Phoenix, of Marseille/ 
gave chase to a Dutch ship near Ceuta. On coming up 



THE SUPPOSED UNDER-CURRENT. 155 

with her, he sunk her with a broadside, in the middle of Dutch ship 

sunk. 

the Gut between Tarifa and Tangier. A few days after, 
the foundered ship, with her cargo of brandy and oil, floated 
upon the shore near Tangier, at least four leagues to the 
west of the spot where she had been sunk, and in direct 
opposition to the surface-current. The fact is thus vouched 
by Dr. Hudson, the communicant : — 

I was at Gibraltar when this happened, where I saw above a hundred of 
the butts of that cargo of brandy, which were sent thither from Tangier ; I 
likewise spoke with the captain of the Dutch ship, who told the governor, 
myself, and many others, where his vessel sunk ; and her rising afterwards 
at Tangier appeared very unaccountable to us, as it does to me to this day : 
for there is no doubt but the ship sunk where the Dutchman told us, since 
the Spaniards from the land who saw it confirmed it to us. The water in 
the Gut must be very deep, several of the commanders of our ships of war 
having attempted to sound it with the longest lines they could contrive, but 
never could find any bottom. 

This very circumstantial evidence appeared to establish Remarks on 

■. i • i i • i i tms story- 

the conclusion that there exists a recurrency in the deep 
water in the middle of the strait, and certainly, to some of 
the smaller philosophers, afforded as satisfactory a solution 
of the problem as that of the unequal effect of evaporation, 
the which must be an ever-varying operation of nature. 
There are, however, two or three points of the deposition on 
which we could have wished the Dutchman to have been 
cross-examined, for we are left in the dark as to the why and 
wherefore a merchantman should have incurred so spiteful 
a broadside, how her people were saved, whether she was 
water-logged instead of sunk, &c. &c. : and, by the way, we 
regret that while Sir John Jennings had the combined 
English and Dutch fleets inside the strait, and Vice- 
Admiral Baker's squadron was just outside, a French 
privateer should have been permitted thus to lord it in the 
Gut. For a ship to founder with her cargo in a medium 
incapable of supporting the load, and then rise again without 
being specifically lighter, is contrary to hydrostatic laws. 
A sinking vessel actually heavier than water, must go to 
the bottom; but if, from her cargo being washed out, sin 



156 THE SUPPOSED UNDER-CURRENT. 

is rendered lighter than the fluid in which she is immersed, 
then she would float to the surface, and be amenable to the 
laws of tides, winds, and gravitation, combined with local 
circumstances. A ship cannot conveniently alter her gravity 
so as to sink or float merely to confirm a paradox ; and in 
the case before us, the Dutch vessel must have been water- 
logged within the influence of the LATERAL set at the surface. 

The Herme- In like manner, the wreck of the Spanish ship Hermene- 
gildo, of 112 guns, which was blown up in action with 
the squadron of Sir James Saumarez, in June, 1801, floated 
into Tangier Bay three days after the explosion, with one 
man still alive on board. On this occasion there appeared 
to be some striking anomalies between the ebb and flood, 
which so awakened the attention of Don Vicente Tofiiio, 
that in the ensuing October, when peace had been ratified, 
he sent his nephew, Captain Tofiiio, to gather information 
at Tangier, where he was assiduously aided by Mr. Salmon ; 
but I was unable to learn the result. 

The Patton It is recorded, and much stress is laid on the fact, that 
when the late Admiral Philip Patton, who died in 1815, 
was Lieutenant of the Emerald, a 32-gun frigate, that ship 
was overtaken by a gale of wind in approaching Gibraltar; 
and at night was hove to, nearly in the middle of the 
strait. Before daybreak she struck at the back of the 
rock, where it was presumed that a counter current had 
carried her. Here she had to ride it out within half a 
cable's length of the breakers, and no room for even fresh- 
ening the nip in the hawse; whence her destruction was 
most probable. This narrow escape induced the Lieutenant 
to study the currents of the strait with serious attention; 
and while upon this inquiry, he endeavoured to ascertain 
how far the theory of upper and under streams could be 
sustained by experiment. On the ground that when two 
fluids of specific gravities meet in a narrow channel, the 
heavier will run out below at exactly the same rate as the 
lighter will flow in from above, a number of bottles were 



experi- 
ment. 



PATTON'S EXPERIMENT. 157 

filled with the water from the Atlantic at a distance from 
all land, and another set of bottles were filled with water 
from the inner part of the Mediterranean. Upon as accu- 
rate a method of weighing as he could command, a flask 
containing one pound, six ounces, and five drachms of the 
ocean fluid, was considered to be thirteen grains lighter 
than the same flask filled with an equal quantity of the 
inner water. He also filled two decanters, of equal size, 
with the respective fluids, one being slightly tinged with 
ink, with their necks placed in a luting of putty ; when the 
whole was held horizontally, the interchange of the heavy 
water displacing the lighter, was thought sufficiently sen- 
sible to justify an inference that the two liquids were of 
unequal densities. From these experiments, which were 
rather pains-taking than philosophical, Lieut. Patton came 
to the conclusion, that the Mediterranean surcharge was 
prevented by an ever-flowing undercurrent into the ocean.* 

Having here given the plainest of the many proposi- Remark, 
tions which have been advanced respecting this doubtful 
subject, and, without presuming in the present state of our 
knowledge of the question, to attempt casting the die, I 
shall now continue my essay without any longer running 
on the Scylla or Charybdis of this controversy. Locke, in 
addressing the understanding, insists that ' doubtful posi- 
tions relied upon as unquestionable maxims, keep those in 
the dark from truth who build on them ; and to be indif- 
ferent which of two opinions is true, is the right temper of 
mind that preserves it from being imposed upon, and dis- 
poses it to examine with that indifferency until it has done 
its best to find out the truth/ — this sound axiom we com- 
mend to the future investigator of any two theories. But 
it will be remembered, that the notion of upper and under 



* I made an unsuccessful endeavour to repeat the decanter experi- 
ment, but with water taken from the surface, and at fifty fathoms of 
depth. The fluid was vexatiously sluggish. 



158 THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR: 

currents, has descended to us for many ages; and if we 

accept the reasonings of Lucretius (JDe Rerum Natura, 

lib. v.) it was not opposed to the cosmogony of Epicurus. 

count It was, perhaps, a knowledge of this which led Count Rum- 

Rumford. * , -, it • n • •% 

ford to demonstrate, by direct experiment, that fluids of all 
kinds, when heated to different temperatures in different 
parts of their volume, must necessarily have an opposition 
of currents : the warmer, from its rarefaction and specific 
levity, occupying the upper, and the colder portion the 
lower part. 
Mediter- The Strait of Gibraltar is so remarkable, both to the 

ranean in- 
draught, navigator as well as to the geologist, that it becomes neces- 
sary to treat it with greater detail than will be requisite in 
other cases : and, although the F return Herculeum was 
applied to the space between Cape Trafalgar and Spartel 
on the west, and from Gibraltar to Ceuta on the east, a 
more enlarged hydrographical view authorizes us to extend 
the western mouth of that magnificent ocean-channel to 
Cape St. Vincent on the north, and to Cape Cantin on the 
south. This assumed breadth of entrance is the more ne- 
cessary, since the whole of its waters are affected by the 
draught into the Mediterranean. On this head, my vene- 
Major Ren- rable friend, the late Major Rennell, entertained an opinion 
that there is a general tendency of the Atlantic waters be- 
tween 30° and 45° of north latitude, and from 100 to 130 
leagues off the land, to move towards the Strait of Gibral- 
tar at a rate of not less than from fourteen to seventeen 
miles in twenty-four hours. Now, though extreme cases 
might occur during a long prevalence of particular winds, 
wherein such an indraught would be appreciable to nice 
experiment, and outward-bound vessels from the English 
channel might find themselves rather to the east of their 
reckoning, the Major's assumption must be received cum 
grano sails; especially if depth be admitted as a condition 
of these 400,000 square miles. Another friend, enlarging 
upon Rennell, considers the gulf-stream as the primary 



ITS DIMENSIONS AND DEPTHS. 159 

mover of the Strait current ; but when he reflects that the 
Gulf stream is strongest under easterly gales, and is gene- 
rally much weaker in winter than in summer, he must 
perceive that his position is unstable, and that the inflow is 
occasioned by some local cause exclusively connected with 
the Mediterranean Sea. 

Such being the natural entrance of this Strait, the true Gibraltar 
boundaries of its narrows, designated the Gut, are between 
the capes of Trafalgar and Spartel, which are twenty-two 
miles apart — the isle of Tarifa and Alcazar point, nine-and- 
a-quarter miles — and Gibraltar and Ceuta, which are twelve 
miles distant from each other ; the whole occupying a 
length of about thirty-five miles. These three form the 
principal stations for averaging a breadth; and the local 
peculiarities are necessary to a full inquiry as to how much 
the current owes to differences in the specific gravity of the 
contiguous waters — how much to the depth and form of 
bottom — what to the density of the several media — and 
what to the fluctuations of atmospheric pressure. Such 
inquiries were of course beyond my time and means, for it 
must be borne in mind that I was only correcting a nauti- 
cal chart for the use of navigators : but, in the hope that 
my observations may aid philosophical researches, I may 
state that, in a line between the two first-named points, the 
body of the stream is of much less depth than it is to the Depths of 

' . . the Strait. 

eastward, as it carries but from twenty to seventy fathoms 
to half the distance across from Spain : and even the 
deepest part between that seventy fathoms and Cape Spar- 
tel, is but 220 fathoms. A few miles more within, the 
channel has not above 160 fathoms at the greatest; but 
between Tarifa and Alcazar point, it deepens to 500, and im- 
mediately beyond, gets to 700. This depth rapidly increases 
towards the Mediterranean Sea, and is 950 fathoms in mid- 
distance between Gibraltar and Ceuta ; and as there is no 
bottom with 1000 fathoms of line up-and-down (upwards 
of 1300 payed out), a little farther to the eastward, it is 



160 



SECTION OF THE STRAIT. 



clear that the bottom, from the meridian of Cape la Plata, 
forms an inclined plane, through which a mid-channel sec- 
tion of eleven lengths to one depth, appears thus : — 

Cape la Plata. Tarifa. Gibraltar. Fathoms. 




Remark. 



Velocity of 
the cur- 
rent. 



A glance at this singular formation at once throws doubt 
on Dr. Wollaston's position, insomuch, that on hearing of 
the conclusion he had formed, I wrote a particular state- 
ment for him ; but when it was received, he was upon his 
deathbed. His executors, therefore, returned the paper 
to me, and I forthwith sent it to Sir Charles Lyell, who 
was then compiling his well-known work — the Principles 
of Geology. Hence the conclusion on page 131. 

When to this underwater abyss we add the roots of the 
mighty Atlas chain on one side, and the elevated tabled 
barrier formed by Spain on the other, the feature of the 
strait is still more surprising. In its narrowest part, the 
central stream may be about four miles in width, but, of 
course, with variable limits; and its average rate of flowing 
is from two to three miles per hour ; but Gibraltar pilots 
have assured me, that they have known it to run, under 
special circumstances, at upwards of five knots; which 
being without proof, is rather assertion than fact. Its 
course sets so constantly to the eastward, that a temporary 
surface-current towards the Atlantic — which sometimes, 
though very rarely, is known to occur — can hardly be 
deemed an exception to the general rule : such an action 
may result from westerly gales causing a partial elevation 
of the oceanic waters, and consequent resurge on regaining 
their usual level, or it may be effected by a superficial rise 
from strong levanters, which, in either case, is entirely local. 



COUNTER STREAMS. 161 

The solution of one part of the difficulty seems to be, that 
by an extraordinary natural effort, there are two returning 
or counter-lateral streams, one on each shore, so that a 
very complex motion is constantly observable ; and these 
remarkable streams being governed by lunar influence, 
shall presently be treated as tides. Bat the phenomenon 
of a strong middle-current setting inwards, while only two 
feeble streams return in the opposite direction at given 
times — a tidal reflux, far inferior to the quantity flowing in 
— may be attributed to the pressure of a greater fluid mass 
on a small body of water ; a pressure which, from the force 
of its impulsion, must necessarily displace the upper strata 
of the smaller mass. 

The central current being established, and running from Effects of 

tliG cur- 

west to east, it consequently follows that the action must rent, 
be felt on and in the neighbouring waters ; which it 
assuredly is, though only to such a degree, and in the more 
distant parts, as to be hardly appreciable in practical navi- 
gation. The influence of the stream is sensibly experienced 
inside as far as Cape de Gata, a distance of 150 miles, but 
it gradually diminishes, being more diffused : yet it then 
takes a direction not only according to the curves of the 
coast, but also from the winds, especially those from the sea. coast of 
About the vernal equinox, with winds between west-south- l pa " 
west and north-west, we found that the current ran, along 
the coast of Granada, at the rate of one knot an hour east- 
wards ; after passing Cape Palos, it set to the east-south- 
east ; and when we neared the Balearic Islands, it flowed 
very gently to the north-east. In a word, the reaction 
of the streams against the coast, with the operation of 
winds, together with the variable currents induced by the 
smaller straits in this sea, occasion lateral and adverse 
' sets' in all directions. But under ordinary circumstances, 
and in settled weather, when the great Atlantic stream has 
its usual course into the Mediterranean, the current moves 
strongly east along the African coast, and across the bay of 

M 



rent. 



162 COAST CURRENTS. 

Tunis, to the coast of Sicily: hence we may see why a 
ship, sailing eastwards along the African shore, should be 
generally ahead of her reckoning. 

Remarks. These sea-motions, as our early hydrographers named 

them, are everywhere sensibly affected by the prevalent 
winds; as is strongly instanced in bights, inlets, and 
channels — of which the Gulf of Lyons, the Riviera of 
Genoa, the Faro of Messina, the upper portion of the 
Adriatic, the Gulf of Corinth, the Euripus, the Syrian sea, 
and the two Syrtes, are examples. Strong ripples resembling 
breakers are frequently caused in the vicinity of the larger 
islands, by the waves of one particular division meeting 
those of another ■: often breaking in so confused a manner 
as to account for many of the ideal shoals which find places 
on charts, to the confusion of navigators. 

sets of cur- After flowing along the shores of North Africa east- 
wards — with occasional interruptions — the general current 
sweeps by Syria and Karamania, and returning westwards, 
sets out along the coasts of France and Spain, though in 
many parts it is so sluggish, as to be almost imperceptible. 
Strong winds from the north-west reverse this order of 
things ; for then the stream sets in along the same coasts, 
at times making strongly round the Gulf of Lyons, and 
varying its course conformably to the contour of the coasts 
of Provence, Languedoc, and Catalonia. Off Toulon the 
easterly set was sometimes so strong after levanters, that the 
inshore ships of our blockading fleet had considerable diffi- 
culty in keeping their stations. In the sea of Tuscany, the 
south-west winds occasion the greatest elevation of the 
waters ; and a continuance of labeschades (e libeccio), or 
gusty gales from that quarter, have been known to raise 
the height of the surface no less than twelve feet above its 
ordinary level. In the phrase of the pilots, the waters are 
then up, and consequently occasion a strong surface-drift 
through the Strait of Bonifaccio. 

A curious feature of these shores, and one not uncon- 



SHIFTING BEACHES. 163 

nected with currents, is the changeable nature of the Beaches, 
beaches, especially at the mouth of the Var, and at Nice, 
where the sea-margin is seen alternately consisting of large 
shingle, fine sand, or small gravel, and, a few days after- 
wards, coarse shingle again. This must be a consequence 
of the fluent and refluent action of the surf upon the 
materials composing the beach, according to the force of 
the surges ; but the cause of that force has not yet been 
satisfactorily investigated. M. Risso, the Savoyard natu- m. Risso. 
ralist, had, even in fine weather, very frequently observed 
the swell of the surf tumbling in something like the rollers 
of the Atlantic. For this he could assign no cause, but he 
assured me that the phenomenon was generally higher after 
heavy rains in the Alps and Apennines — producing the rise 
in the rivers called ' freshes' — than at any other time ; and 
therefore an unequal atmospheric pressure might contribute 
to the effect, by causing a circulation of the waters below ; 
for as a surf sets, it acts from this cause on the ground 
at some distance in the offing ; but its returning action 
having a tendency to restore the level by reverberation, is 
almost confined to the surface, and has no effect on the 
bottom. The sea-motions are certainly sensible at a depth 
of twenty-five fathoms. 

Though inferior in importance, the Strait of Messina Faro of 

i • • Messina. 

has occupied the attention ol philosophers lor as many ages 
as that of Gibraltar ; and the laws of its current are still 
among the desiderata of physical inquiry. While most of 
the ancient reasoners on the subject only gave us terrible 
pictures of the dangers of navigating the Mamertinum 
/return, Eratosthenes ascribed the cause of the bewildering 
currents and counter-currents to a difference of level in the 
vicinity, especially insisting that the descending waters 
flowed from the higher Tyrrhenian sea: and Aristotle 
follows on the same ground. But as the effect has been 
proved to be influenced by the attractions of both sun and 
moon, the subject will be resumed in the next section. 

M 2 



164 THE MAROBIA. 

Here, however, we will step for a moment to the opposite 
coast of Sicily, and introduce a strange current, thus recorded 
in my account of Sicily, page 224 : — 

Marobia. The Marobia is an extraordinary phenomenon, most probably deriving 

its name from Mare ubbriaco, or drunken sea, as its movement is apparently 
very inconsistent ; it occurs principally on the southern coast of Sicily, and 
is generally found to happen in calm weather, but is considered as the 
certain precursor of a gale. The Marobia is felt with the greatest violence 
at Mazzara, perhaps from the contour of the coast. Its approach is 
announced by a stillness in the atmosphere, and a lurid sky ; when suddenly 
the water rises nearly two feet above its usual level, and rushes into the 
creeks with amazing rapidity, but in a few minutes recedes again with equal 
velocity, disturbing the mud, tearing up the sea-weed, and occasioning a 
noisome effluvia ; during its continuance the fish float quite helpless on the 
turbid surface, and are easily taken. These rapid changes (as capricious in 
their nature as those of the Euripus), generally continue from thirty minutes 
to upwards of two hours ; and are succeeded by a breeze from the southward, 
which quickly increases to heavy gusts. This phenomenon may be occasioned 
by a westerly wind blowing, at some distance in the ofling, towards the 
north coast of Sicily, and a south-east wind, at the same time, in the channel 
of Malta, the meeting of which would take place between Trapani and Cape 
San Marco. I advance this idea, because the westerly wind most usually 
precedes, and the south-east succeeds, the Marobia. 

In addition to this I ought to have added, that it was 

during a turbulent marobia that H.M. ship Raven, of 18 

guns, was lost on Cape Granitola, on the 6th of January, 

1804: and this was the * unusual current' of Captain 

Swaine's defence, at the consequent court-martial of inquiry 

into the loss. When very violent, its effects of action and 

reaction are felt even on the opposite coast of Barbary. 

Central cur- This central and important portion of the Mediterranean 

forms the passage or channel of communication between 

the Western and the Eastern Basins ; and with respect to 

the prevalent ' sea-motions' by which it is affected, I have 

only to repeat what was published in my account of Sicily 

(page 184), so long ago as 1824. It is there stated that the 

currents 

arising from the constant evaporation and the action of the winds, observe 
no regularity, rising a foot or two, according to the weather and the pecu- 
liarities of locality and depth ; thus the north-west wind, raking the shores, 
promotes a strong set to the south-east ; while the south-western, which is 
here very sensibly felt during the vernal equinox, causes strong counter- 



CHANNEL OF MALTA. 165 

currents ; and at length, on its changing to the opposite quarter, the whole 

body of water rushes to the westward with considerable velocity 

In long-settled weather, the currents between Sicily and the Barbary shore, 
and from thence to the westward of Galita, run to the eastward at the rate 
of from half a mile to a mile an hour. In the channel of Malta, the south- 
east current has occasionally been so strong, that ships have found it difficult 
to beat up to Maritimo ; while others, driven to leeward of Malta, have been 
obliged to carry a press of sail in order to hold their own, until a change of 
wind enabled them to make the island again. Another proof of the influence 
of this current is, that ships stretching over from Cape Passaro to Valetta, 
with a northerly wind, usually keep a point higher, to ensure fetching it. 

Between Malta and Tripoli, the current generally sets 
to the southwards and eastwards ; but between Malta and 
Tunis, a prevalence of south-east winds throws the waters 
upwards to the barrier formed by Adventure Bank and 
the Skerkis, where, beside that impediment, meeting the 
general easterly set from Gibraltar, the current sweeps 
away northwards, at the rate of about a knot and a half 
per hour, while at other times the set is southerly. 

The operation of the winds and waters in the Adriatic, Adriatic 

currents. 

is more uniform than in the parts just treated o£ The 
current usually sets in along the Albanian and eastern 
shores, sweeps round the head of the gulf from Trieste to 
Venice — often at the rate of a knot an hour — by the 
Romagna, and thence out again along the Italian shores, 
with a somewhat diminished force ; but the Bora makes a 
surcharge of a foot or two on these latter coasts. This 
general action is accompanied by a sufficient tidal influence 
to cause a variety of local sets, called ligazzi, some of which 
prevail right across, a natural consequence of the contour 
of this sea, and the islands which stud it; but these variable 
streams are neither rapid nor dangerous. Much has been 
written on the subject by the Venetian pilot, Vicenzo di 
Luccio ; and he has not only described currents for the 
different months in the year, but has gone so far as to give 
almost an hourly course and velocity for them. When in 
the ' City of the Sea/ I made inquiry for this Signor di 
Luccio, but without effect, for as his details — however 



166 THE COAST OF GREECE. 

particular — have the air of mere arbitrary assumption, I 

was desirous of a viva voce explanation. 

Ionian cur- Although, the Ionian Sea feels the general set of the 
rents. . , . . 

main current, there is sometimes a surface-run to the 

southwards, which is retarded or increased according to the 
nature and degree of the offing gales. A stream is generally 
running through the fine channel of Corfu, which is remark- 
ably influenced by the wind ; when it blows pretty strong 
from the north, the waters set to the southward at the rate 
of 1^ or 2 knots an hour, and it occasions a fall in the level 
of from three to four feet : a southerly wind raises it to 
about the same height, and the current then sets northwards. 
But this is not confined to the channel, although it is there 
the most marked, for over the whole Ionian Sea, southerly 
winds cause an extraordinary rise of about a foot, and 
northerly ones a fall of about the same amount ; but if they 
are strong and continuous, the elevation and depression are 
naturally greater. Still the traces of tidal action are 
extremely faint ; for even the remarkable ingress and 
egress from this sea into the Gulf of Arta (the commercial 
value of which is detailed in a memoir written by General 
Vaudoncourt; their supposed full-and-change days have 
been stated by others) can hardly, from present data, be 
yet considered as a regular tide, since the sets are known 
to be more influenced by the winds than by our satellite. 
A stream runs into the Gulf with the sea-breeze by day, and 
in the night, when the land-winds prevail, the water returns 
outwards. Tidal action is more decidedly marked just 
below, in the Gulf of Corinth, although the current move- 
ments are not dissimilar in cause and effect from those of 
Arta, for the strength of the set and the height of rise 
depend on the direction and force of the wind, the current 
running most strongly when it is blowing down the Gulf, 
and often taking a direction against the wind. On many 
occasions, the meeting of the waters of Patras and Corinth, 
under the influence of the offing and gulf winds, causes a 



BLACK SEA CURRENTS. 167 

broken foam across the narrow channel at the entrance of 
the Gulf of Lepanto, and a considerable swell. In running 
through this, the agitation reminded me of that well-known 
and often dangerous spot called the bridge, between Drake's 
Isle and Mount Edgecumbe, at Plymouth, though the 
apparent causes differ widely. 

In approaching the Archipelago, and from thence the Ajchipe- 
coasts of Asia Minor and Syria, many peculiarities are currents, 
observable in the currents, of which the principal is the 
action of the waters descending from the Euxine, through 
the numerous inter-insular channels of the Cyclades, upon 
the main current which sets along those coasts westwards. 
On the north coast of Candia, it is observed that, with the 
wind blowing strong from the west for any continuance, 
the waters rise two or three feet above their common level ; 
and with the wind from north or east, they fall two feet 
below that level, the effect of the westerly set acting on the 
usual conditions of surcharge and discharge. The whole of 
the Archipelago, however, is affected from the north-east ; 
for the Black Sea, receiving a greater accumulation of water 
from its tributary rivers than is withdrawn from it by 
evaporation, pours out a constant and copious stream 
through the Sheitan akindi-si, or Satan's current, into the 
sea of Marmora, whence — an expansive surface being 
offered to exhalation — the discharge through the Hellespont, 
though still considerable, is perceptibly less rapid, but very 
constant. 

The water of the Black Sea has a lower specific gravity Currents in 

the lilack 

(1 -01418) than that of the other Mediterranean basins, a sea. 
fact which proves that it is not liable to much evaporation. 
The overflowing current just alluded to, which, especially 
from the mouth of the Dnieper and the Danube, runs 
rapidly through the entrance of the Thracian Bosphorus, 
the rate being estimated at from three to five knots per 
hour according to the prevalent direction and force of the 
winds, makes counter-currents and eddies along the sinu- 



168 CURRENTS IN THE LEVANT. 

osities and points by which it is diverted in its course. 
From the relatively small amount of salt in these waters, 
the shallower parts of the Euxine are sometimes frozen ; 
and the Sea of Azof, into which the inundating Don 
(Tcmais) and the many branches of the Kuban dis- 
charge themselves, is frozen over during three or four 
months of the year, so that laden sledges and troops of 
people pass and repass upon it. 

The Levant. It has been pretty fairly established, that owing to the 
action of the main or general current, a set constantly runs 
by Cyprus and along the coast of Karamania to the north 
and west : whence, a ship leaving Malta, and bound to 
Smyrna or the Dardanelles, on meeting a strong north- 
easter off Cerigo, as is so often the case, instead of beating 
against the drain of current then setting down from the 
Dardanelles, would, at no loss of time, stretch away to the 
south-east, as far as Alexandria, nearly with an easterly 
current, and so along the coast of Syria with the northerly 
set. At times between Rhodes and the mainland, in conse- 
quence again of the effect of a prevailing north-east wind 
sweeping the whole surface of the other parts of the Archi- 
pelago for nearly two-thirds of the year, the current is liable 
to run like a sluice ; insomuch that in a calm, a ship may 
be carried up to the north, by carefully looking out for 
eddies, and keeping within the islands near and after 

sir f. Beau- passing Rhodes. Sir Francis Beaufort, when Captain of 
the Frederiksteen frigate, made some very judicious obser- 
vations on the currents of this part of the sea: he also 
made an experiment on the under-currents, which I regret 
not having heard of before I quitted the station, or that 
simple and ingenious operation should have been repeated 
in other places. His words are, — 

From Syria to the Archipelago there is a constant current to the west- 
ward, slightly felt at sea, but very perceptible near the shore, along this 
part of which it runs with considerable but irregular velocity : between 
Adratchan Cape and the small adjacent island, we found it set one day 
almost three miles an hour ; and the next, without any assignable cause for 



ADMIRAL BEAUFORT'S EXPERIMENT. 169 

such a change, not half that quantity. The configuration of the coast will 
perhaps account for the superior strength of the current about here : the 
great body of water, as it moves to the westward, is intercepted by the 
western coast of the Gulf of Adalia ; thus pent up and accumulated, it 
rushes with augmented violence toward Cape Khelidonia, where, diffusing 
itself in the open sea, it again becomes equalized. 

The cause, the progress, and the termination of this current would form 
an interesting subject for future investigation. To trace its connexion with 
the volume of water which enters by the Straits of Gibraltar, with the influx 
of the currents from the Euxine, and with the effect of the Nile, and of the 
numerous though small rivers of Asia Minor, will require a series of corre- 
sponding observations on both sides of the Mediterranean. The counter- 
currents, or those which return beneath the surface of the water, are also 
very remarkable ; in some parts of the Archipelago they are at times so 
strong as to prevent the steering of the ship ; and in one instance, on sink- 
ing the lead when the sea was calm and clear, with shreds of bunting of 
various colours attached to every yard of the line, they pointed in different 
directions all round the compass. 

The main current, as already said, sweeps from Gibraltar Currents 

along 

along the African shores, modified by the several sinuosities ; North 
but regaining its regular course along the coast of Lybia, it 
flows by Alexandria, and, trending north-eastwards, makes 
for the shore of Syria, and in its advance seems to acquire 
new strength. There is frequently a strong outset from 
Abukir Bay, and variable flaws off Damietta; but the 
grand outlet of the Nile has great influence around. The 
northerly winds which prevail in summer, carry with them 
the vapours raised from the Mediterranean — though without 
forming regular clouds — over the valley and low ranges of 
the Egyptian hills, as far as the Abyssinian Alps and the 
lofty mountains beyond ; where, being cooled and con- 
densed, they fall in rain, and are in some measure carried 
back to their native sea by the periodical inundations of 
the Nile. The overflowing generally begins at the end of 
June, sometimes from a fortnight to a month later, and 
continues for above two months, after which it gradually 
subsides. The river rises from fourteen to twenty-three feet 
in vertical height, and the volume of water which it carries 
into the sea is twenty times greater in its latter than in its 
former state ; insomuch that during the full surcharge — as 
before stated — potable water may be baled on the surface 



170 MOUTHS OF THE NILE. 

of the Mediterranean, even out of sight of land. Here the 
current exerts itself on the large quantity of alluvial sub- 
stances brought down by the Nile, and drifting the sediment 
eastwards, exerts its silt-depositing property (before alluded 
to in page 8) with such effect, that rapid accretions along 
the Syrian shores, thereby leaving Tyre and Sidon inland, 
are directly traceable to it. Indeed, this is so palpable as 
scarcely to require the eye of the geologist, for I have seen 
the waters discoloured with impurities for many leagues; 
and in 1801, a rather alarming phenomenon was encoun- 
h. m. ship tered here by H. M. frigate Romulus, commanded by 
Captain Culverhouse, on her passage from Acre to Abukir 
Bay. It is thus related by Dr. E. D. Clarke, who was then 
a passenger on board : — 

July 26th. — This day, being Sunday, we accompanied Captain Culver- 
house to the gun-room, to dine with his officers, according to his weekly 
custom. As we were sitting down to dinner the voice of a sailor employed 
in heaving the lead was suddenly heard calling ' half four /' The captain, 
starting up, reached the deck in an instant, and almost as quickly putting 
the ship in stays, she went about. Every seaman on board thought she 
would be stranded. As she came about, all the surface of the water ex- 
hibited a thick black mud : this extended so widely, that the appearance 
resembled an island. At the same time, no land was really visible, not even 
from the masthead, nor was there any notice of such a shallow in any chart 
on board. The fact is, as we learned afterwards, that a stratum of mud, 
extending for many leagues off the mouths of the Nile, exists in a moveable 
deposit near the coast of Egypt ; and when recently shifted by currents, it 
sometimes reaches quite to the surface, so as to alarm mariners with sudden 
shallows where the charts of the Mediterranean promise a considerable depth 
of water. These, however, are not in the slightest degree dangerous. 
Vessels no sooner touch them than they become dispersed ; and a frigate 
may ride secure, where the soundings would induce an inexperienced pilot 
to believe her nearly aground. — (Clarice's Travels, vol. iii. p. 13.) 

The circular motion of the current round the Mediter- 
ranean, shown in the preceding remarks, appears to have 
been first observed, or at least described, by the celebrated 
Montanari. Geminiano Montanari, in the year 1681, — the same philo- 
sopher to whom is attributed the discovery of the method 
of determining the heights of mountains by means of the 
barometer. It is therefore to be wished he had been the 
first to detect that the rise and fall of waters — under either 



THE NATURE OF TIDES. 171 

tides or surcharges — are also shown by that truly philoso- 
phical instrument ; it being low water when the barometer 
is highest, and vice versa. 



§ 5. On the Tides of the Mediterranean. 

rpHE word ' tide" signifies properly the body of the oscilla- Tides. 
-■- tion, and comprehends the difference between high and 
low water ; tidal motion being rather the elevation of a wave 
than an absolute transfer of water. The tide-wave differs 
from the wind-wave, because it is the result of forces acting 
both parallel to the surface and perpendicularly on the sur- 
face of the sea ; whereas common waves are all occasioned by 
lateral disturbances of wind, current, and terrestrial modifica- 
tion. It therefore follows that, so far as their primary causes 
are concerned, tides may be considered merely as alternate 
elevations and depressions of the water, without any neces- 
sary transfer from place to place ; but the whole being pro- 
duced by an undulating motion, in which the surface swings 
upon certain average curves, recalls the trite appearance 
of the waves over a field of corn in a gale of wind. Never- 
theless, although astronomical demonstration is strong 
upon this point, practical observation of the phenomena 
has shown that there is often a positive transfer of water 
from one place to another ; and all waves which are pro- 
duced by causes acting near the surface of the water — as 
in the case of a shelving or gradually inclined shore — are 
in so far impelled in a lateral direction, and the waves 
then are consequently a propagation of motion through 
that water. The above remarks must also be qualified by 
recollecting that in the case of comparatively shallow water, 
such as all seas may be called, the forces parallel to the 
surface produce the greatest part of the effect: in a word, 
that the horizontal transfer must considerably exceed tl.< 
vertical movement 



172 MEDITERRANEAN TIDES. 

Tides and currents are so similar in movement and 
effect, and so constant in their operation, as to be in many- 
cases difficult to distinguish ; yet they are so distinct in 
cause, that a discrimination is here attempted, even where 
those agents are difficult to investigate from want of action. 
Anomalies. g manv causes contribute to the varied courses of the 
waters, and so many interfere with the very slight indica- 
tions of Mediterranean tides, that we are obliged to infer 
rather than assert results of direct observation ; in this state 
of knowledge it is therefore impossible to give any general 
rule for the observable effect. My own time and attention 
were necessarily more devoted to fixing latitudes and longi- 
tudes, and delineating coasts and harbours, than to studying 
the physics of this sea ; but I made a few experiment s T 
which I hope may render the subject a peculiar object of 
attention to some who have better means and more leisure. 
Indeed, I have little doubt that a day will arrive when it 
shall be proved that these inner-sea motions — except the 
extreme local ones — are actually connected with those of 
the great oceanic waters. The closely following up a few 
apparent anomalies in this beautiful department, added to 
the crowning tidal knowledge which may yet be expected 
from our explorers in the Polar Sea — for which theoretical 
science yearns — must inevitably lead to a clear perception 
of all the phenomena presented by tides. 
Me n d ean ra " ^ ne Mediterranean, though poetically termed a ' tideless 

tides. sea ^ j s f ar £ rom b em g so m reality ; for accurate observa- 
tion detects a sensible elevation and depression of its waters 
— independent of currents, surface drift, or wind-raised 
swells. This, if not wholly, is partly ascribable to the lunar 
sympathy, as manifested by the alternate changing of the 
stream, and a periodical rise and fall, somewhat coincident 
with the oscillations of the Torricellian tube ; the lowest 
Barometer. sur f ace accompanying a high barometer, and vice versa. 
But as yet these are hardly admissible terms, for though 
there are places — as Venice and Jerbah — where the fact of 
a tide is shown in the amount and periodicity of its recur- 



APPARENT PARADOX. 173 

rence, and others where it is obvious from not immediately 
mingling with water differing in temperature, set, and 
velocity, still the tides over most part of this sea are so 
feeble and irregular as to be difficult to ascertain. Hence 
it has been asked, if these motions are attributable solely Paradox, 
to the attraction of heavenly bodies and centrifugal force, 
how is it that the moon, which is acknowledged to have an 
attractive power sufficient to move such vast bodies of 
water as the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, should exert its 
influence so slightly over the inner sea, that many will 
hardly believe there are any tides in it ? To this the New- 
tonian answers, The strait by which it communicates with Answer, 
the ocean is so narrow, that it cannot in so limited a time 
receive or discharge sufficient water to alter the elevation 
of the whole surface sensibly : and he moreover insists, that 
instead of the faintness of the Mediterranean tides being an 
objection to the theory of planetary attractions, it is a fair 
proof in its favour. For herein, the moon acting at the 
same moment in all parts, diminishes the gravity of the 
mass, while the difference of atmospheric pressure upon 
such a sea may tend to obliterate any slight appearance of 
tide that would occur if the pressure were uniform over the 
whole surface. Over a large space the air is increased in 
bulk, and consequently diminished in weight, by an almost 
tropical heat, thereby occasioning mobility and alternation. 
Yet there being little or no neighbouring water to move 
forward and increase the liquid elevation — which is pro- 
duced in other cases less by a vertical rise of the waters 
attracted than by a lateral flowing of adjacent waters by 
virtue of their greater density — there consequently can be 
but weak tides in small seas, especially when the entrances 
are comparatively narrow and shallow, and face the west, a 
direction opposite to the general movement of the great 
mundane tidal wave. 

Still, although the Mediterranean tides are irregular, in Opinions of 
many parts scarcely perceptible, and mostly so in consider- cieate. 
able in a nautical point of view, that with a few exceptions 



174 ANCIENT OPINIONS. 

they are scarcely worth appreciating, they are unquestion- 
ahly interesting when physically considered, as exponents 
of a general cause ; nor will it be forgotten that the theory 
of tides was first studied on those very shores, even from 
the time of Pytheas. Posidonius, who measured an arc of 
the meridian, explained the ebbing and flowing of the sea 
from the motion of the moon ; and he seems to have been 
the earliest who declared the law of these phenomena, 
although Caesar nearly at the same time (De Bello Gallico, 
lib. iv.) alluded to the nature of spring tides, as being con- 
nected with the moon s age. But assuredly Pliny advanced 
on this subject almost all that was possible for human saga- 
city, before Sir Isaac Newton unveiled the great law of the 
universe, and demonstrated that the same force which guides 
the planets in. their courses causes the waters to rise and fall. 
Now Pliny had formally said, that the cause of the pheno- 
mena is in the sun and moon — verum causa in sole lundque 
— adding the remarkable assertion, that the moon exerts 
her power as well under the earth as when she is seen aloft. 
Tides at Among the most palpable of the Mediterranean tide- 

ways are those in the Strait of Gibraltar, where various 
anomalous eccentricities are found, in consequence of its 
being the avenue between that sea and the ocean. While 
in command of a gun-boat at the siege of Cadiz, I found 
the tide-hour* in the bay to happen at two o'clock, or no 



* In the present rage for foisting new terms into the vernacular techni- 
cals of a working profession, both meaning and brevity should be sought : I 
am therefore glad that Lieutenant Raper, in his ' Practical Navigation,' 
has adopted this appropriate phrase (Ora del Porto of the Italians) for the 
High water on Full and Change days of erst, and its recent substitute 
Establishment of the Port. The word Pharonology has been introduced to 
teach us where lighthouses stand; and an attempt is in hand to supersede 
the time-honoured and appropriate term, Variation of the needle, by the 
equivocal word Declination, which latter has been so long held by seamen 
as belonging to the sun. Watershed is absurdly forced into geography, to 
denote the highest ridges bounding the valleys of a country. It is a sort of 
echo of the German word Wasserscheidung (Water separation) ; but shed, 
either as a verb or a noun, has no such sense in English, and is almost 
exclusively appropriated to the falling or dropping of tears or blood. ' Cul- 
minating divisions' would better express what is meant. 



LATERAL TIDES OF GIBRALTAR. 175 

less than two hours and a half sooner than all the tables in 
1810 gave it to be ; in consequence of which the movements 
of our flotilla at the siege were at first often embarrassed. By 
my own observation, the full and change at Gibraltar occurs 
at 12 h 50 m ; the rise at the former place ranging from eight 
to twelve feet, and at the latter, as shown in the boat- 
camber, from three to five feet. But between these two 
stations, I was assured by Don Felipe Bauza, the hydro- Captain 
grapher of the Spanish navy, that it is high water at Tarifa 
at ll h 15 m , and under Cape Trafalgar at 5 h 40 m ; from 
which it would seem that from Europa Point the flood sets 
round Cape Carnero, and passing that headland flows to 
Tarifa, in the vicinity of which it meets the tide coming 
from the west off Cape Trafalgar, where it is low ebb when 
it is high water at Tarifa. This is singular, but Bauza was 
satisfied of the substantial truth of the facts. 

On the southern coast of the strait, another tide runs Ceuta and 

Tangier. 

alongshore from Ceuta — where the tide-hour is at l h 45 m — 
by Tangier, where it is flood at 12 h , to Cape Spartel and 
its offing. These lateral streams average a distance from 
the respective shores of more than a couple of miles, and 
their rate of velocity varies from two to four knots per 
hour, their regularity being interrupted by the prevalent 
direction and force of the winds ; and their action in im- 
pinging on the central current, occasions eddies and whirls 
in the most prominent parts of the strait. But these 
repercussions are so very transitory and changeable, often 
not occurring at all, that, on being consulted, I could not 
approve of General Don's allowing Ignazio Reiner, his pilot 
at the Rock, to insert them in a chart for publication ; 
and the same of the very useless tabulated floods and ebbs, 
making time and tide rather more synonymous than, with 
all their strong points of resemblance, we find them to be. 

From what is thus advanced, it will be evident to the Proof of 
seaman that, with a moderate wind, there will be no dim- uses, 
culty, by watching the tides, in beating to the westward 



176 LATERAL TIDES OF GIBRALTAR. 

through the strait. And upon such conviction I acted ; for 
during the investment of Tarifa by the royalist general, 
O'Donnell, in August, 1824, the besieged constitutionalists 
were ill-advised enough to fire at an English merchant - 
ship which was passing, whereby she incurred a detrimental 
delay, and had she had any munitions of war on board, 
would have been plundered, though the threat was softened 
by a promise of bills in payment. On learning this, being 
the senior naval officer at Gibraltar, I instantly despatched 
h. m. sloop the Pandora, sloop of war, Captain William Gordon, to 

Pandora. 

expostulate with General Valdez, the commander of the 
rebel garrison ; and I moreover directed Lieut. M'Causland, 
in the mortar-boat Hamoaze, to lead the insulted trader 
through the straits. The wind was then westerly, blowing 
fresh at intervals ; but I assured both these officers that by 
making short boards with the flood tide on the Spanish 
shore, the passage would readily be effected. It being a 
point of strict service in which promptness was requisite, 
my wishes were cordially seconded : the Pandora quickly 
brought an ample apology from the unhappy constitution- 
alists — numbers of whom were destined to be shot in cold 
blood a few days afterwards — and the Hamoaze succeeded 
in beating through with the heavily-laden merchantman in 
tow. This mortar-boat was but a tub of a vessel at best, 
yet she thus performed a nautical feat, so far as I know, 
then unprecedented. 
Tides along On the Spanish coast inside the Mediterranean, the 
of Spain, tides are certainly of the most moderate order ; and during 
some long spells in Port Mahon, when our Toulon block- 
ading fleet used to winter there, I found, after numerous 
trials, that that fine harbour was barely affected, the ebbing 
or flowing a foot or two being irregular, and evidently more 
ascribable to winds than to lunar attraction. This was also 
the opinion of Mr. Gaze, the master of the fleet ; who told 
me, however, that a regular rise and fall had been detected 
at Malaga, where it was flood at about 12 hours. This, in 



SCIPIO AT CARTHAGENA. 177 

consequence of strong sea-winds while there, I was unable 
to prove ; but the assertion was in a measure corroborated 
by the captain of the port, although his notions as to the 
distinction between a current and a tide were no£ of a 
very definite character. / 

There was another point which gave me more trouble Tide at car- 

-n , / thagena. 

than the allegation respecting Malaga, and it Was this : 
Polybius, who is usually very exact as to what ho— per- 
sonally knew, says that, at the siege of Carthagena by the 
Romans, Scipio observed that a certain part of the walls 
was left undefended when the tide fell ; as the besieged 
judged the sea to be a sufficient barrier on that side. Now 
I diligently attended to the historian's statement, because 
it involves a greater rise and fall than is known along this 
coast ; but no present evidence, either ocular or oral, would 
lead to Scipio's conclusion. My experiments were made in 
the inner floating-harbour, which appears to occupy the 
site of the cothon which occasioned Doria's aphorism, 
that June, July, and Carthagena were the best ports in 
the Mediterranean. Here a fairly-placed tide-pole only 
announced an alternation of about sixteen inches ; and the 
pilots and fishermen of the spot knew of but little variation 
from this amount, except in offing gales. But another 
assertion offers a still greater puzzle ; for Polybius (lib. x.) 
pointedly boasts that he can speak of Carthagena with 
assurance, inasmuch as he takes his account, not from 
hearsay, but from what he had himself seen and examined. 
In this spirit he writes : ' The whole of this gulf takes the 
character of a perfect harbour. For an island lies in its 
mouth, and leaves on either side a narrow entrance ; as it 
receives all the force of the swell from the sea, the whole 
gulf remains entirely calm/ Now, as the term gulf cannot 
allude to the cothon, or to the marshes then existing to the 
north of it, this island can be no other than the bold and 
rocky Scombrera ; but instead of being in front of the gulf, Scombrera. 
it lies quite over on the south-east side, with the open bay 

N 



178 SHORES OF FRANCE AND ITALY. 

on the west, and a boat-passage between it and the main. 
Polybius, however, might have viewed it from one of the 
eastern eminences, whence it was apparently brought to 
bear more centrally. This was a point which the late Dr. 

Dr. Arnold. Thomas Arnold — although he admitted the general accu- 
racy of Polybius — told me he would endeavour to ascertain 
in his next vacation, as it was a part of Spain he should 
like to visit : that vacation he never saw, for, within a 
fortnight after he wrote to me, he was suddenly seized with 
angina pectoris, which carried him off in a few hours, on 
the 12th of June, 1842. 

Along the Round the Mediterranean shores of France and Italy 

shores of m * 

France the tides are of little moment, the most exact observations 

andltaly. . 

giving only a foot or two ot rise from that cause ; but 
though this may be accepted roundly, I am not inclined to 
assign much weight to the tide-hours at Toulon, Spezzia, 
and Naples, which are respectively given as 3 h 30 m , l h 45 m 
and ll h 20 ra , because there was considerable inconsistency 
in the accounts placed before me by General Visconti, who 
assured me that Sir Charles Blagdon's time for full and 
change at Naples — between the hours of nine and ten 
(Philosophical Transactions for 1793) — is erroneous. The 
tides, however, and the currents caused by them, in the 
Faro of beautiful Stretto Mamertino. or Faro of Messina, demand 

Messina. 

an express mention ; I shall therefore repeat what was 
published, for the most part, nearly thirty years ago, in 
my account of Sicily and its Islands, especially as the 
appended details are not irrelevant to this inquiry : 

As the breadth across this celebrated strait has been so often disputed, I 
particularly state that the Faro tower is exactly 6047 English yards from 
Scylla. that classical bugbear, the Rock of Scylla, which, by poetical fiction, has 

been depicted in such terrific colours, and to describe the horrors of which, 
Phalerian, a painter, famous for his nervous representation of the awful 
and the tremendous, exerted his whole talent. But the flights of poetry 
can seldom bear to be shackled by homely truth ; and if we are to receive 
the fine imagery that places the summit of this rock in clouds brooding 
eternal mists and tempests — that represents it as inaccessible, even to a man 
provided with twenty hands and twenty feet, and immerses its base among 
ravenous sea-dogs ;— why not also receive the whole circle of mythological 



THE FARO OF MESSINA. 179 

dogmas of Homer, who, though so frequently dragged forth as an authority 
in history, theology, surgery, and geography, ought, in justice, to be read 
only as a poet. In the writings of so exquisite a bard, we must not expect 
to find all his representations strictly confined to a mere accurate narration 
of facts. Moderns of intelligence, on visiting this spot, have gratified their 
imaginations, already heated by such descriptions as the escape of the 
Argonauts, and the disasters of Ulysses, with fancying it the scourge of sea- 
men, and that in a gale its caverns ' roar like dogs ;' but I, as a sador, never 
perceived any difference between the effect of the surges here, and on any 
other coast, yet I have frequently watched it closely in bad weather. It is 
now, as I presume it ever was within the reach of history, a common rock, 
of bold approach, a little worn at its base, and surmounted by a castle, with 
a sandy bay on each side. The one on the south side is memorable for the 
disaster that happened there during the dreadful earthquake of 1783, when 
an overwhelming wave (supposed to have been occasioned by the fall of a 
part of the promontory into the sea) rushed up the beach, and, in its retreat, 
bore away with it upwards of 2000 people, whose cries, if they uttered any 
in the suddenness of their awful fate, were not heard by the agonized spec- 
tators around. * * * 

On the whole, from the adhesive quality of the sands, and a strict 
examination of the various localities, particularly the lighthouse of the Faro Faro Point, 
point, which was constructed more than 200 years ago on the ruins of an 
ancient tower (then, as now, on the margin of the sea), I do not believe that 
the channel has widened ; indeed, it is not clear to me, that this part was 
not originally wider, and that the two lakes have been gained from it; the 
story related by Hesiod and Diodorus, of the sea being broad here, until 
Orion raised the promontory of Pelorus to place a temple on, though not a 
confirmation, gives some colour to the supposition. 

The four principal stations of the distances across, in my trigonometrical 
operations, by theodolite angles from a base line on that part of the beach 
near Messina called Mare Grosso, are — from Faro point to Scylla castle, Breadth of 
6047 yards, as before stated: from Ganziri village to Point Pezzo, 3971 e ar °' 

yards ; from Messina lighthouse to Point del Orso, 5427 yards ; and from 
Messina lighthouse to the cathedral of Reggio, 13,187 yards, * * * 

The currents in the Faro are so numerous, and so varied, with respect Currents 
to their duration and direction, that I found it very difficult to ascertain and ti(ies - 
anything with precision, as one series of observations seldom agreed with 
another; but I have generally found the statements of the most experienced 
pilots, after making due allowance for localities and weather, approximate 
very near to each other. In settled seasons there is a central stream running 
north and south, at the rate of from two to five miles an hour, and which 
though, properly speaking, only a current, when uninfluenced by strong 
winds, is guided by the moon. On each shore there is the refluo, a counter 
or returning set, at uncertain distances from the beach, often forming eddies 
to the central current;* but, in very fresh breezes, the lateral tides are 
scarcely perceptible, while the main increases so as to send, at intervals, 
Blight whirlpools to each shore. There is, in general, an uncertain rise and 
fall of a few inches ; but before the vernal equinox, when the sun is nearest 



* With a descending current, the Iiefoli, or contrary sets, occur on the 
Sicilian shore; with an ascending one, they are near Calabria. 

N 2 



180 THE FARO OF MESSINA. 

the earth, and the moon in her perigee, they rise to 18 or 20 inches. 
When the Rema montante, or main current, runs to the northward, it is 
called the ascending or flood, — and the contrary, the Rema scendente, the 
descending or ebb ; and this has obtained, perhaps, even from the time of 
Eratosthenes. There is usually an interval of from fifteen to sixty minutes 
between the changes ; and the tide runs six hours each way, though I have 
known it, during a south-east gale (which has the greatest influence), flow 
to the northward upwards of eight hours. By the most precise observations 
I have been able to make, it is high-water on the days of full and change of 
the moon, off the Faro point at 6h. 56m. ; and in the harbour of Messina at 
8h. 10m., or rather later. But these times are in themselves irregular and 
uncertain, owing to the great waves without, and contingent agencies which 
are not amenable to such calculations as mine were. A descending current 
makes the strait the roughest. 
Navigation The Faro channel is entered from the north on passing the lighthouse on 

of the th e point ; and though, from the nature of its winds and currents, it has long 
been clothed with imaginary terrors, yet as the Athenians and Syracusans, 
and the Locrians and Bhegians fought there, it could not have been consi- 
dered so fearfully horrible by ancient sailors as by ancient poets ; and the 
language of the former would probably have borne a tenour very different 
from the romantic embellishments of the latter, notwithstanding the passage 
through it might have been an affair of some moment with their small 
vessels and inexperienced seamen. But we have been gravely assured in a 
recent publication, that this strait is still extremely dangerous, and — for- 
getful of the memorable names of Loria, and Byng, and Walton* — it is added 
that Nelson was the first who ventured through with a squadron of men-of- 
war : while, on the contrary, it has always been used as an expeditious route 
by those, bound to the south-eastward, who have not been accustomed to a 
' coat of terrors and a cap of fear :' and I am convinced that no persons 
well acquainted with this channel, will think it hazardous, especially if 
they have been in the habit of keeping well over to the Sicilian shore. 

From the baffling winds to be expected, however, it certainly requires 
caution, though, except the set of the current towards the rocks under the 
Torre di Cavallo (a situation extremely disagreeable at night in bad weather), 
the beaches are so steep, that the stream enables vessels to glide safely along 
them. In light breezes, the current may be stronger than the ship's effort, 
and by turning her round, often alarms a person unacquainted with the 
phenomenon, although there is no actual danger: and the losses there, 
during my residence in the island, were certainly not more than would 
have been the case in any other part frequented by an equal number of 



* This was the officer who, after the action between Byng and Castaneta, 
being detached in pursuit of six sail of the line and as many smaller ships 
that had escaped, reported his complete success to the Admiral in the follow- 
ing laconic terms : — 

' Sie, — We have destroyed all the enemy's ships and vessels on the coast, 
as per margin. — I am, &c., 

' Geokge Walton. 
' Canterbury, off Syracuse, 
16th August, 1718.' 



THE FARO OF MESSINA. 181 

I would not, indeed, advise a stranger to push through in the night, Caution, 
unless with a fine free wind, as the light at Messina is so indifferent, that it 
cannot be distinguished among the numerous torches of the fishermen, who, 
every tranquil night, cover the strait with their boats. Precautions should 
also be taken against the heavy gusts which, at times, from the mountainous 
nature of the coasts, vehemently rush down the fiumare (torrent-beds), and 
are dangerous to small vessels. I have twice, with grief, seen the neglect 
of them prove fatal ; one of these circumstances occurred in the Sicilian 
flotilla, to which I was then attached ; a fine barge, with eighteen of the 
best sailors we had, in attendance upon Colonel Caffiero, one of our officers, 
had been on constant duty in this strait for several years ; when, in the 
early part of 1815, having carried the Princess of Hesse Philipstadt on board 
a vessel bound to Palermo, the barge was assailed by so sudden a squall on 
her return, that they could not lower the mainsail, and she instantly over- 
set ; the bodies of the unfortunate men were picked up the next day, between 
Scaletta and Taormina, about twenty miles to the southward. It is remark- 
able that there has been found in Messina a Greek inscription to the 
memory of thirty-seven youths of Cyzicus, who met a similar fate in the 
Faro ; and in honour of whom, as many statues — the workmanship of Calion 
— were erected with a suitable inscription. 

My description of Charybdis must follow that of 
Scylla :— 

Outside the tongue of land, or Braccio di Santo Rainiere, that forms the Charybdi 
harbour of Messina, we see the Galofaro, or celebrated vortex of Charybdis, 
which has, with more reason than Scylla, been clothed with terrors by the 
writers of antiquity. To the undecked boats of the Rhegians, Locrians, 
Zancleans, and Greeks, it must have been formidable ; for, even in the pre- 
sent day, small craft are sometimes endangered by it, and I have seen 
several men-of-war, and even a seventy-four gun ship (the Queen, bearing the 
flag of Rear- Admiral Sir Charles Penrose), whirled round on its surface; but 
by using due caution, there is generally very little danger or inconvenience 
to be apprehended. The Galofaro appears to be an agitated water, of from 
70 to 90 fathoms in depth, circling in quick eddies ; but rather an incessant 
undulation than a whirlpool, and the cases are only extreme when any vor- 
tiginous ripples threaten danger by absorption to laden boats. It is owing, 
probably, to the meeting of the harbour and lateral currents with the main 
one, the latter being forced over in this direction by the opposite point of 
Pezzo. This agrees in some measure with the relation of Thucydides, who 
calls it a violent reciprocation of the Tyrrhene and Sicilian seas ; and he is 
the only writer of remote antiquity I remember to have read, who has 
assigned this danger its true situation, and not exaggerated its effects. 
Many wonderful stories are told respecting this vortex, particularly some 
said to have been related by the celebrated diver,* Colas, who at last lost 



* A diver on my establishment, named Dionisio Ninfo, had been brought 
up at the Faro, who, though an elderly man, could descend in seven or eight 
fathoms water, and there remain a minute and a half. My servant having 
accidentally thrown some spoons overboard at Milazzo, in six fathoms 



182 



TIDES IN THE ADRIATIC. 



his life here. I have never found reason, however, during my examination 
of this spot, to believe one of them. 

The formation of the Tangdora shoals, stretching out on each side of the 
Galofaro. little kind of bay, off which the Galofaro is situated, is probably owing to 
the eddies of Charybdis ; and the sand, being united by the bituminous 
particles before mentioned, is as hard as a rock. I first surveyed these 
shoals, and supplied the Senate of Messina with a large plan of them. To 
strangers entering the harbour at night, they are dangerous, as ships are 
apt to close the light too much ; and if the vessel grounds, the rapidity of 
the stream, and great depth of the water outside, are obstacles to getting off 
again. To prevent the repetition of an accident, not unfrequent, I recom- 
mended a smaller light to be placed between the established one and 
Fort Salvador, which has since been adopted, and must prove of infinite 
service. 

Taranto. The Captain of the Port at Taranto, by General Vis- 

conti's desire, promised to send me a set of observations on 
tidal phenomena in that gulf, which he pronounced to be 
' molto singolare ; but I never received his document, and 
from my own notice detected nothing along those shores, 
but the usual atmospheric influence in the Mediterranean. 

In the Adriatic Sea, the tides, in most parts, are so 
weak as not to be easily recognised ; yet that they exist 
throughout it, has been ably shown by Professor Toaldo, 
of Padua, in an essay intituled De reciproco JEstu Maris 
Veneti, of which a copious abstract appears in the Philo- 
sophical Transactions for 1777. The head or upper part 
of the Gulf of Yenice (often termed the bottom) has a very 
notable rise, ranging from one foot to nearly four in springs, 
and according to the prevalence of winds up or down. The 
times of high water before the moon's passing the meridian, 
are considered as fairly noted in the following table for 

Venice. Venice and Chioggia, which was forwarded to me by 
Colonel Campana — at those two places the rising and 
setting of the moon is the time of low water for that day, 
and about l h 30 m before the moon reaches the meridian, 
is the time of high water. 



Adriatic 
tides. 



depth, Dionisio was overboard in a trice, and recovered them, to the surprise 
and amusement of some officers who had breakfasted with me, and who 
could watch his movements in the clear water. 



TIDES AT VENICE. 183 

New Moon. Full Moon. 

Day. Night. Day. Night. 

H. n. E. M. H. M. H. n. 

January 2 40 ... 1 40 ... 2 41 ... 56 

February 2 8 ... 1 57 ... 2 13 ... 57 

March 2 5 ... 2 5 ... 2 27 ... 1 11 

April 2 18 ... 1 19 ... 58 ... 58 

May ... . ... 30 ... 8 ... 40 ... 1 25 

June 1 2 ... 2 47 ... 15 ... 2 45 

July 38 ... 53 ... 23 ... 1 22 

August 3 ... 9 ... 31 ... 2 1 

September 54 ... 1 39 ... 47 ... 47 

October 1 40 ... 35 ... 1 47 ... 47 

November 1 56 ... 41 ... 2 29 ... 1 

December 1 25 ... 1 11 ... 2 45 ... 1 

By this table, it seems that our own conclusion of the Effect of 

winds on 

tide-hour falling at or about ten on full and change days, these 
is not alarmingly in error. But though the elevation of 
the tidal waters is stated above, it should be added, that 
northerly winds lessen this amount, in neaps, most dis- 
agreeably to the olfactories; while those from the south 
throw in a surcharge which sometimes raises the surface to 
five or six feet above the general level, inundating all the 
lagoon marshes. Towards the end of the month of Decem- 
ber, 1821, after a continuance of fresh south-east winds for 
several days, the sea was raised to an extraordinary height ; 
so much so, that Venice appeared like one extensive lake 
during the whole of Christmas-day and the 26th. On this 
occasion the gondolas were plying in the Piazza di San 
Marco ; and from the evidence of records and votive pic- 
tures, this is not at all a solitary case. 

According to Professor Toaldo, a few days about every Professor 

Toaldo. 

new and full moon, the tide is higher than ordinary ; and 
by means of these spring tides only is it that the larger 
ships are carried in and out of port. He also found that, 
of two daily tides, the one is higher and of longer duration 
than the other ; and that the greatest spring tide scarcely 
ever happens on the very day of the syzigies, but either on, 
before, or after it, by one, two, three, or sometimes four 
days. Toaldo likewise saw reason for assuming that the 



184 IONIAN TIDES. 

height of the springs at Venice is above what it was for- 
merly, because he ascertained that the tides now really 
flow to places considerably above what they reached in 
ancient times ; and certainly a comparison of his own mean 
heights — taken less than a century ago — gives on the 
average, less than those of our own day. But the instances 
are too unstable for building upon ; exact registers have 
never been kept there, and we must remember it is on 
record, that tide-mills were established at Venice so far 
back as the year A.D. 1078. 

Coast of In H.M.S. Aid we found the tides off Istria set against 

the north-east wind at the rate of nearly a knot an hour, and 
then return to its south-east course ; and, at times, the effect 
of the ebb was to cause an apparent stand-still of the offing 
and central waters. The gale called Bora certainly occa- 
sions a surcharge along the coast of Italy, but at Barletta, 
Bari, Monopli, and Brindisi, the sailors insist on experi- 
encing a tidal action, ranging from a few inches to three 
feet. Our operations were not sufficiently nice for confirm- 
ing this assumption, nor does it rest on very strong grounds, 
being due more to a transient notice than to direct experi- 
ment. Neither could we detect positive indications of a 

Ionian Sea. regular tide in the Ionian Sea,* except in one instance ; 
although I have known sets of stream running at more 
than a knot, with a rise and fall of nearly two feet, gene- 
rally corresponding with the Adriatic movements. The 
exception alluded to is Patras, at the entrance of the Gulf 
of Corinth, where we established the mean tide-hour at 
6 b 54 m , with a range of about two feet and a half. This 
was obvious ; whence we must conclude that the lunar 
influence is manifest on the neighbouring shores — a fact, 



* There was much talk about a current in Port Argostoli, which the 
Cephaloniots believed to flow uniformly against the wind, ' owing to sub- 
terraneous caverns.' It is, however, but an effect of the form and contour 
of the harbour and its vicinity, as acted on by winds in heaping and heading 
up the waters of one arm, and draining them off by the other. 



TIDES IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 185 

however, which it was out of our power to ascertain : for Gulf of 

m . r ... Corinth. 

the rise and fall observed at Lepanto, Galaxidi, Corinth, 
and Vostitsa — though covering and leaving dry alternately 
a considerable extent of shore — were evidently so dependent 
on winds, that as yet we must set them down as currents. 
But there is a singular periodic motion prevailing in the 
waters of this gulf, independent of whatever flux and reflux 
there may be ; it generally takes place twice in twenty-four 
hours, when unopposed by fresh gales, the inset being 
termed embasmos, and the outset eugalmos. A know- 
ledge of this peculiarity aids the arrivals and departures of 
shipping, and facilitates local intercourse. 

The Archipelago presents, with certain anomalies arising Archipe- 
frorn its shape and its islands, the general aqueous motions 
of other portions of the Mediterranean Sea, and is more 
amenable to currents than tides. But, ages ago, Herodotus 
spoke of the ebbing and flowing of the sea in the Gulf of 
Milis, before Thermopylae, which, he asserts, ( may be seen 
every day' (Polymnia, § 198); and in the Euripus, or Eunpus. 
Strait of Negropont — which in the gorge is only forty yards 
wide — a very remarkable phenomenon of reciprocated 
motion in the waters is observed. During the first quarter 
of the moon, as well as from the 14th to the 20th of its 
age, and also for the last three days of the lunation, the 
tide ebbs and flows regularly four times in the twenty-four 
hours ; while during each of the other days, it ebbs and 
flows, with the great force of five or six knots, from eleven 
to fourteen times per diem, though the difference of eleva- 
tion rarely exceeds two feet. This is, to a degree, accounted 
for by assuming that a change of wind in the Gulf of Volo, 
or iEgean Sea, produces also a change in the relative levels 
of waters around, and a stream consequently flows through 
the bridge at Egripos to restore the equilibrium ; and it is 
well known to those along the shore, on account of the 
contrary motions given to mill-wheels, that a southerly 
wind produces a strong set to the northward, while a 



186 AFRICAN TIDES. 

northerly wind is accompanied by a southerly current. 

These tidal irregularities, and their residual phenomena, 

have attracted attention for ages^ and there is an idle story 

Aristotle's that Aristotle drowned himself here, because he was unable 

death. ' 

to explain the cause. Persecution and banishment after 
he had enjoyed power, more probably shortened the life 
of the philosopher, than any dissatisfaction from an intel- 
ligent failure; especially since he had always affected to 
scorn suicide as dastardly and disgraceful. 

Smyrna. At Smyrna, it is said that the tide flows on full and 

change days, when regular, from three to four o'clock, with 
a rise of two feet ; but it is added, that the neaps are 
always irregular. This tide-hour, however, is not recognised 
by Sir Francis Beaufort. ' Neither on this coast ' (Kara- 
mania), says he, ' nor in the Gulf of Smyrna, where the 
Fredericksteen was stationed for some months, could it be 
perceived that the direction of the current, or the rise and 
fall of the water, were influenced by the moon. The depth 
of the water does, indeed, frequently vary, but this effect 
is produced by the direction of the winds ; those from the 
south and west universally raising it, in some cases even 
two feet, and those from the opposite quarters depressing 
it in an equal degree/ Recent observations attempt to 
show that in the port of Mermericheh, the tide flows on 
full and change at 9 h 30 m , and rises eight or ten inches ; 
but, unless with a tide-gauge under able inspection, I 
should very much doubt the absolute accuracy of such a 
determination. 

North Along; the African shore the tides are distinctly trace- 

able in some places, though imperceptible in others. Thus, 
at the mouth of the Tetuan river, the water rises nearly four 
feet on full and change, at l h 30 m , and is hardly discernible 
a little farther to the east. The often-cited flux and reflux 
at Bizerta — noticed by the younger Pliny,* in his strange 



Africa. 



* This is a point upon which the ipsissima verba of the Younger Pliny 



TIDES IN THE GULF OF KHABS. 187 

story of the dolphin — is caused by vaporization, the action 
of winds and rains, and the consequent effect on the sea ; 
which rendered it, in Dr. Shaw's opinion, a miniature of 
the Strait of Gibraltar. At the Goletta of Tunis, there is Goietta. 
a rise and fall of nearly three feet, which is so variable in 
its times of recurrence, that it must be ascribed to local 
rather than lunar causes ; but towards the Lesser Syrtis, Lesser 
the moon's influence becomes less equivocal. Along the 
Karkenah and Sfakus channel the tides are fairly developed, 
running about a couple of knots, a rate often increasing to 
upwards of three, as they gather round the Gulf of Khabs ; 
until, on passing Jerbah, they flow away to the eastward, 
and weaken by diffusion. This is one of the greatest lati- 
tudinal distances from Venice, and therefore increased tidal 
vigour might have been expected ; but I was amused 
rather than vexed, on finding our boats lying high and dry 
nearly a mile from the Burj-er-Rus, a pyramid of human 
skulls just outside the castle of Jerbah, under which we had 
landed two or three hours before. The Mediterranean station 
had made us overlook the wholesome nautical rule of keep- 
ing the boats afloat ; but, happily, our being left aground by 
a receding tide entailed none of the dreadful disasters which 
befel the Spaniards under Lacerda and Doria, in 1561, when 
the slaughter took place that supplied the Christian heads 
with which the Burj-er-Rus ( Tower of Heads) is built. The 
tide rises till about 3 h 10 m , ranging from four to six feet, and Kise and 

- fall at 

at times even to eight ; the waters around must consequently Jerbah. 
be affected in some degree by its action. Still, the great 
bank formed between Jerbah and Lampedusa shelves so 
gradually, that the great sea-swells roll in and disperse 
without breaking. I therefore, on several occasions, when 
the wind was dead towards the shore, and the waves rising, 



should be cited : ■ Adjacet ei (Hippo) navigabile stagnum, ex quo in modum 
fluminis ajstuarium emergit, quod vice alterna, proutsestus aut repressit aut 
impulait, nunc iufertur mari, nunc redditur stagno.' — (Lib. ix. Ep. 33.) 



188 AFRICAN TIDES. 

ran the Adventure to leeward out of the sea-swell, till we 
found a convenient depth for anchoring in smooth water. 
Had I known of this in 1816, it would have saved Lord 
Exmouth a world of hurry and anxiety, as well as the loss 
of a few anchors, when his squadron was caught by a 
northerly gale in Tripoli roads. 
Lord Ex- It was then that a circumstance which I have elsewhere 

mouth. 

related, took place : the wind came on suddenly while the 
Admiral and most of his captains were on shore negotiating 
the treaty for the suppression of slavery. By his lordship's 
desire I mounted to the terraced roof of the consulate, 
which overlooked the anchorage ; and perceiving that some 
of the ships were driving, and others heeling over prodi- 
giously, my report quickly brought up Lord Exmouth and 
his flag-captain. Sir James Brisbane, the others all hurry- 
ing down to their boats. On the Admiral's nearly gaining 
the terrace, I called down the stairs, ' My lord, the Mon- 
tagu is under sail/ * Oh ! as for Heywood/ he replied, 
' no fear of him ; what are the others doing V By this 
time he had gained the summit of the house ; he looked at 
the ships, and was off in an instant. 

Beyond Tripoli, between Mesratah and Grennah, or 
Kirenneh (Gyrene), is the wide and open gulf which the 
The Greater ancients called the Greater Syrtis, mentioned in the first 
chapter. Of this once-dreaded spot, the dangers to navi- 
gation are said to have been occasioned by the frequent 
occurrence of banks and shallows formed by the flux and 
reflux* of the sea, and still more by these movements 
themselves. Now, as we found only the slightest possible 
indications of tide here, this flux and reflux can only apply 
to the indraught which follows the sea-winds, and the 
reaction of the body of waters when the opposite ones 



* Pliny the Elder speaks of both the Syrtes as being ' vadoso ac reci- 
proco mari diros/ in a passage which Philemon Holland renders — ' The third 
gulfe is parted into twaine, cursed horrible places both, for the ebbing and 
flowing of the sea, and the shelves betweene the two Syrtes.' 



THE GREATER SYRTIS. 189 

prevail. Captain Beechey, then a lieutenant of the Adven- Captain 
ture, in charge of the party which journeyed round its 
shores by land, while the ship examined the coast by sea, 
mentions many parts where he perceived the effect of very 
violent surges ; but, on the whole, he concluded that the 
land had advanced upon the sea in those regions, ' since we 
find their ancient ports now filled up with sand, their lakes 
to have taken the character of marshes, and their quick- 
sands (if ever they had any) to have become solid and firm/ 
The result of our operation is, that navigation, if necessary, 
can look the Syrtis in the face, for the whole is now proved 
to be approachable in cases of necessity ; but without such 
necessity, no vessel, especially of the smaller sort, ought to 
get embayed there ; for northerly winds have a long and 
uninterrupted fetch. But the difference of impression be- 
tween the present time and that which prevailed when 
I first went thither, in 1816, is remarkable, for all the 
local seamen then spoke of it with dread : yet I could 
find no one — not even in the Basha of Tripoli's squadron 
— who had any personal experience in the matter, except 
one Monsieur Lautier, whose relation I could not rely upon, m. Lautier. 
as I soon found that he carried too much canvas for his 
ballast. It may therefore illustrate the matter, if part of 
a letter which I addressed to Baron de Zach, and which 
he published in his Correspondance Astronomique for 
1822, be here subjoined : — 

All the world know that the two Syrtes are the great gulfs on the 
northern coast of Africa, between Carthage and Cyrene, and that they were 
the terror of the ancient mariners : so it is reported by Herodotus, Scylax, 
Diodorus Siculus, Pomponius Mela, Edrisi, and many other historians, geo- 
graphers, and poets ; among the last, Lucan and Apollonius Rhodius, &c. Apollonius 
The lines of the latter represent the general notions on the subject a century lihodius. 
and a half before our era : — 

' Near the fell Syrtis is the vessel borne. 
There shifting sands the labouring bark embay ; 
Thence never crew pursued the homeward way. 
A hideous tract the slimy marshes spread ; 
The putrid waves are motionless and dead : 



190 



THE GREATER SYRTIS. 



A treacherous depth of seeming land is seen, 

Devouring water, clothed in fraudful green. 

Along the brine a spume corrupted lies, 

And pestilential vapours load the skies. 

Inhospitable rise the sandy heaps ; 

No bird has dwelling there; no thing that creeps.' 

It was with descriptions so terrible and alarming, that I attacked this 
classical bugbear. I entered by Mesratah, and by the flat shore of Isa : my 
expectations were realized. I did not find it a coast desolate, monotonous, 
and melancholy — without form, and so low as to justify the character which 
has been given by the old navigators, that it is ' neither land nor sea.' We 
did not see submerged plains, or drowned lands ; but we saw distinctly how 
the waves, which are perpetually breaking against the shore, wash and leave 
the rocks uncovered which abound on this coast, and which are also strewed 
with the remains of many wrecks. Horrible swamps, however, seem to 
extend over a superfices of nearly 200 miles, and are so perfectly level, that 
Wrecks. they appear rather like a sea than a shore. The wrecks are, without doubt, 
those of ships which have deviated, or been driven, from their proper routes, 
being misled during the night, or during thick fogs, which are common 
here. On other parts of the coast there are few or no dangers, excepting 
several little heads of rocks, scattered about different points. The tides are 
insignificant. With the hand-lead going, a vessel may approach all parts 
of the coast between Mesratah and Cape Razat, which is thirty-five leagues 
beyond Benghazi. This is a singular contradiction to the reports of the 
difficulties that the ancient mariners pretended to have found ; but it must 
be acknowledged that vessels should not enter into this gulf, unless chased 
by tempests which it is impossible for them to resist ; for, in rough weather, 
the sea rises here to a prodigious height. It must also be considered, that 
the navigators of those times were always at a loss in estimating their 
reckonings ; they were also troubled by the terrors which their imagination 
created, knowing that they should experience no mercy from the wandering 
and barbarous tribes inhabiting this coast. 

But of what utility can it be to enter here ? there being but one place 
in the whole gulf worthy of being called a port, — and even that a poor one. 

Lucan's Having alluded (ante, p. 122) to Lucan's prediction 

prediction. reg p ectul g ^^ g U if } -ft may be here further noticed. In the 
ninth book of the Pharsalia, he speaks of nature as having 
left the Syrtis a mingled and useless mass of drowned land, 
stagnant pools, waters, and swelling tides ; after which 
(voce Rowe) he thus perorates : — 

Perhaps, in distant ages, 'twill be found, 
When future suns have run the burning round, 
These Syrts shall all be dry and solid ground ; 
Small are the depths their scanty waves retain, 
And earth grows daily on the yielding main. 

Lucan, ix. 539. 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 191 

Such are the boundaries and such the contents of the stability of 
Mediterranean ; but, even at the risk of repetition, a remark terranean. 
or two is called for before noticing the inhabitants of these 
waters. After what has been advanced, there appears to be 
no sufficient reason for supposing that there is any positive 
diminution of waters in this Inner Sea, or any altera- 
tion of its general level ; by which term is meant the 
actual line coincident, or nearly so, with the mean point of 
time between its greatest and least height — a datum, how- 
ever, which in these regions it is hardly necessary to dis- 
cuss. On a due consideration of all the circumstances, the 
problem resolves itself into this : whether the level has 
actually been raised a few feet in the course of twenty 
centuries, or whether the ground has subsided to a similar 
amount in consequence of unknown causes. Although, as 
I have already stated, many submerged ruins are met with, 
an examination of various cothons, moles, and other sea- 
works, proves the permanency of the level of the Mediter- 
ranean from a remote historical period ; and, on the whole, 
my impression is, that its coasts have gained at least as 
much on one hand as they have lost on the other. 

This never-ceasing reciprocity bears out the ' velut 
paria secum faciente natura (velut sua damna compen- 
sante Natura) : quaqua hauserit hiatus, alio loco red- 
dente/ of the Sage. The question forms the point to 
which modern geological inquiry has now arrived, for it 
is clearly discernible that the effects of such alternations 
must be connected with the history of life upon our globe. 
But precisely the same idea was distinctly started by 
Strabo, nearly 1900 years ago. ' It is not/ says that phi- strata's 
losophical geographer, * because the lands covered by the v^w.^ 
sea were originally at different altitudes, that the waters 
have risen, subsided, or receded from some parts and inun- 
dated others ; but the reason is, that the same land is some- 
times raised up, and sometimes depressed, and the sea also 
is simultaneously raised and depressed, so that it either 



192 PENETRATING POWER OF LIGHT. 

overflows, or returns into its own place again/ Would 
any of our most practical geologists express any other 
opinion at the present moment ? 



T 



§ 6. Mediterranean Ichthyology. 

•HIS is a most interesting field for inquiry, especially 
as connected with the general physics of the Inner 
Sea ; and though the full development of the Mighty 
Deep may, probably, never be vouchsafed to the means or 
curiosity of man, much additional information will, no 
doubt, reward perseverance. And again must I express 
regret at the imperfect tenour of my researches, for pro- 
fessional duties left no choice, and the flight of time was 
ever defeating inclination. 
Penetration The solar rays, we are told, only penetrate to the depth 
of twenty-five fathoms, below which the sea receives no 
light, and consequently little or no direct heat from the 
sun ; but this hypothesis is assuredly lame, since I have 
sunk a plate, and then viewed it with the marine-tube 
hereafter described, at that depth ; which is a very different 
operation from the penetrating power of the solar beams. 
Indeed, as water is pervious to light, it must necessarily 
pierce the limpidity to a vast depth — under the obvious 
conditions as to intensity of the rays and smoothness of the 
surface — before these rays are intercepted. It is analogi- 
cally presumed that air is disseminated through the 
waters, without which marine creatures could not exist, as 
they would be incapable of decomposing the fluid for the 
purpose of procuring the oxygen that may be really neces- 
sary for them. At present it is impossible to pronounce 
how far all marine life may require light, for our knowledge 
of the pelagians inhabiting great depths is necessarily 
limited, and, as was just said, we know little respecting the 



PRESSURE OF THE SEA. 193 

penetration of solar rays into the deeper abysses. In such 
a medium, we might anticipate some modification in the 
organs of vision of those mollusks which possess eyes ; and 
naturalists have found instances of such adaptation, not 
only in the eyes of the lower marine inhabitants, but also 
in the very fitting of the air-bladder. A very remarkable 
instance is said to be afforded in the Pomatomus telesco- Pomatomus 

tdcsco- 

pus* a creature found in the depths of the Mediter- pus. 
ranean, which is furnished with remarkably large eyes, so 
formed as to gather every ray of light which can illume the 
darkness of its abode. 

The real amount of pressure borne by animal life in Pressure, 
profound depths, is truly an interesting element for consi- 
deration and experiment. At 16 fathoms, a living creature 
would have to sustain only about 60 pounds to the square 
inch, and at 60 fathoms as much as 180 pounds. At 100 
fathoms depth the pressure would amount to 285 pounds, 
and at 700 fathoms the creature must bear with impunity 
a quantity equal to 1830 pounds upon the square inch; 
while the pressure of 1000 fathoms of superincumbent 
water on the same area considerably exceeds a ton. Now, 
I have drawn up star-fish alive through 170 fathoms, but 
since then Professor E. Forbes has nearly doubled that depth 



* Not having met with this fish either in markets or books, I applied to 
my friend, Professor Edward Forbes, to hunt it up for me : his answer was 
— ' I have at length succeeded in tracing him to his lair. The Pomatomus 
tdescopus is a sea-fish, one of the true Percedce. It is remarkable for its 
enormous eye, and is very rare indeed.' Risso describes these eyes, the 
opercula of which are in three pieces. He mentions a pelagian, which he 
names A lepocejthalus rostral us, with still larger eyes, saying, — ' C'est un 
ph&nomdne tres digne de toute attention des Ichthyologistes, que les poissons 
les plus remarquables des bords de l'Europe meridionale, qui habitent a 
deux milles pieds et plus de profondeur, ont leurs ecailles adherentes tres 
faiblement a la peau, et les organes de la vue d'une grandeur dispropor- 
tionnee a l'ensemble de leur corps ; que leur vessie natatoire est si vaste, 
que leurs caecunes sont si nombreux, et que les teintes qui les colorent 
reflecbissent si peu de nuances. Quant a leurs habitudes, elles resteront 
encore pour les naturalistes long temps enseveliesdans les profondes regions 
des mere." — Hist. Nat. de V Europe merid., t. iii. p. 449. 

O 



194 PRESSURE OF THE SEA. 

with success; and I understand that M. Biot has made 
captures from still deeper water — his own expression being, 
that they existed ' dans les grandes profondeurs des mers.' 
Of course these animals are properly fitted for such an 
extraordinary condition of existence ; but the pressure of 
the sea on inanimate bodies, and at comparatively no great 
depth, is sufficiently obvious. I have twice found that the 
Effect on cylindrical copper air-tube, under the vane attached to 

copper x \ 

cylinders. Massey's ingenious patent sounding-lead, was unable to 
stand; for it collapsed at little more than 200 fathoms' 
depth in the first instance, and in the second was crushed 
flat under a pressure of about 300 fathoms. Moreover, 
a claret-bottle filled with air and well corked, burst on 
its descent to 400 fathoms with the brass Marcet cylinder, 
and others broke at little more than half that depth. 

Bottles. ^ e a | g0 f ounc [ that bottles filled with fresh water — and we 
even wasted wine on some occasions — and corked, had the 
cork usually forced in at about from 150 to 180 fathoms 
below the surface. In these cases the fluid sent down is 
exuded, and the vessel returned full of sea-water ; the cork 
which had been forced in, is sometimes inverted within the 
neck of the bottle. 

Animal life ^o return. It is impossible to overlook the teeming 

in the sea. L ° 

animal life in the ' vasty deep ,* ' which not only affords sub- 
sistence by one marine race feeding on the other, but gives 
ducks, divers, gulls, shags, petrels, tern, and all sorts of 
aquatic birds — as well as turtles, seals, and other amphibia 
— a constant supply of food, and also adds abundantly to 
the sustenance and traffic of man. From the wondrous 
productive power of fishes, their numbers are incalculable ; 
yet so numerous are their enemies, that it has been ques- 
tioned whether any of them die a natural death. Still, in 
the brief span between the ova and the end, all and each 
of the constituent individuals of those myriads, together 
with all the subaqueous vegetable tribes, have their 
allotted portions in the universal economy; they aid in 



HABITS OF FISHES. 195 

giving circulation to the waters, and thereby tempering the 
climates of the globe ; for even those mollusks which of 
themselves seem hardly capable of locomotion, qualify, 
though in a degree almost infinitesimal, the equilibrium by 
their secretions. 

There is no doubt that marine animals strictly seek Habits of 

fisllt'S 

those districts and depths in each of which their respective 
foods are found ; and herein is an extraordinary adaptation 
of means to the end, insomuch that fishes swimming near 
the surface and those a few fathoms below them differ, and 
these, again, are found to be different from those with 
habitats at greater depths. Yet, whatever profundity the 
fishes may inhabit — and pelagians are presumed to frequent 
the profoundest — as their respiratory organs and specific 
gravity seem to be admirably adapted to the nature of 
water, they can live and breathe with ease at every inch 
throughout. The distribution of mollusca, radiata, and 
others of the lower organization, is also palpably arranged 
for the fore-mentioned ends, although greatly dependent 
on local conditions. Professor Forbes, who was for eighteen professor e. 
months in the iEgean with Captain Graves, divides that 
portion of the sea to which his inquiries were directed 
into eight regions of depth, each characterized by its pecu- 
liar fauna. l Certain species/ he says, ' in each are found 
in no other, several are found in one region which do not 
range into the next above, whilst they extend to that below, 
or vice versa. Certain species have their maximum of 
development in each zone, being most prolific in individuals 
at that zone in which is their maximum, and of which they 
may be regarded as especially characteristic. Mingled, with 
the true natives of every zone are stragglers, owing their 
presence to the secondary influences which modify distribu- 
tion. Every zone has also a more or less general mineral 
character, the sea not being equally variable in each, and 
becoming more and more uniform as we descend/ (See his 
Report on JEcjean Invertebrata, 1813.) 

o 2 



196 



WHALES. 



Whales. 



Sharks. 



Fisheries. 



Instances have occurred through successive ages, of the 
larger cetaceous animals having made their appearance 
occasionally in the Mediterranean waters. Various indivi- 
duals have even been captured ; as a pike-headed whale 
(Bahama hoops), upwards of 100 feet long, off Corsica, in 
the year 1620 ; a fin-fish (Balcena phy sails), near Barce- 
lona, in 1744 ; another fin-fish near Tunis, in 1787 ; a 
round-nosed whale (Balcena musculus), killed on the coast 
of Provence in 1790 ; and two or three cases of the common 
whale (Balcena mysticetus) being beached. But not being 
natives of this sea, they must only be regarded as stragglers 
adrift. The Orca that grounded in the port of Ostia, which 
Pliny saw so gallantly attacked by the Praetorian guards, 
was no doubt a stranded whale. Much discussion has 
arisen about Jonah's ' great fish/* which custom has reco- 
gnised as a whale ; but others consider the large basking 
shark (Squalus maximus) to have been the creature in 
question, although it is the tamest and most harmless of 
the ichthyological races, feeding mostly on medusae, small 
Crustacea, and sea-plants. The Lamia (Squalus carcharias), 
or white shark, the most voracious of human food of all 
fishes, has a better claim to have been the c great fish' that 
swallowed the prophet, since he can readily ingulf a man 
whole ; and it has therefore sometimes been designated 
Jono3 piscis. 

Though many of the most valuable species of fish are 
abundant in the Mediterranean, the quarantine regulations^ 
arbitrary exactions, and deficient enterprise of most of the 



* The English authorized version of the Book of Jonah (i. 17 and 
ii. 1, 10), is literal and exact. No epithet is used except ' great/ and the 
Hebrew word dag is a common term signifying fish : that which swallowed 
Jonah is not specifically named in the Hebrew Bible, but in the New Tes- 
tament (Matthew xii. 40), the word is rendered Krjrog in Greek, which 
usually signifies a whale, but is ^Iso taken for any very large fish. The 
noted idol Dag-on (1 Sam. v, 1, 2) was represented as half man, half-fish, 
and has therefore been taken for the Assyrian monster Derceto (Diodorus 
Siculus, ii. 4), the original mermaid, but without reason. 



MIGRATORY FISHES. 197 

people who inhabit the coasts, have combined to prevent 
the fisheries from being carried to the desired extent as an 
object of external commerce, most of the produce being 
consumed at home. From this, however, we must except 
the tunny, the sword-fish, the anchovy, and the sprat, the Tunnies, 
capture and curing of which are carried on with great & c . 
spirit ; while the coral fisheries form an important branch 
of industry, though often far from being highly remune- 
rative. In an economic view of the central parts of this 
sea, perhaps the tunny is the most important fish ; and I 
have already described the method of taking it, and other 
particulars, in my accounts of Sicily and Sardinia. I also 
alluded to the migratory visits of this fish having become Migratory 
more capricious of late than formerly, insomuch that some- 
times the produce of the tonimre barely repays the expenses 
of their establishment. This may arise from accidental 
obstructions to their course, a point on which they are 
said to be very sensitive ; and they are extremely grega- 
rious. The shoal enters the Mediterranean from the ocean 
in spring, passes along the European shores into the Black 
Sea, where they are supposed to spawn, and returns along 
the African shore to the ocean in the fall of the year. But 
in the Black Sea it has been noted to enter along the coast 
of Asia, and return along that of Europe ; a peculiarity 
which Pliny, following Aristotle, accounts for by supposing 
the fish to see better with the right eye than with the left. 
The more natural opinion is, that the prevailing winds are 
the cause, those of summer being chiefly from the south, 
and those of the later seasons from the north ; the fish, 
therefore, may be presumed to prefer the smooth water 
under the weather shore. This is not said to impugn the 
merit of those writers, for they — together with Archestratus, An ™^ T 
iElian, Ovid, Oppian, Isodorus, Athenaeus, and Ausonius — 
have recorded such numerous interesting and instructive 
facts relative to the customs and instincts of Mediterranean 
fishes, that we almost overlook their neglect of specific 



writers 



198 



DIFFICULTIES OF NOMENCLATURE. 



Aristotle. 



Kemark. 



differences. Kecent inquiry has, indeed, confirmed the 
truth of many of their statements which had for ages been 
stigmatized as fabulous. 

But among all inquirers into marine zoology, none can 
claim a footing on the same plinth with Aristotle; the 
generalizations of whose admirable researches (arsp £awv 
io-Topia.) in these waters, remain to this hour unshaken. 

But a study of the habits of the finny tribes, with their 
affinities and analogies, though so interesting in itself, is not 
the legitimate object of these pages, the intention here 
being merely to give a glimpse of the Mediterranean 
ichthyology, by appending a list of the inhabitants of its 
central waters — a region chosen as probably affording 
specimens of the whole sea. In this enumeration — which 
is necessarily deficient — I have taken every pains to arrive 
at a sound general view, having attended the fisheries on 
the coasts of Tunis, Sardinia, Sicily, and Calabria, as well 
as the various markets in those places. There has been no 
small trouble in drawing it up, for the trivial name of many 
a fish differed in the course of a few miles ; and difficulties 
occurred in reconciling the scientific synonymes of various 
species, especially where the differences are barely demon- 
strable, or where personal names of the naturalist's friends 
are foisted in. My course was, therefore, to cling towards 
the Linnsean classification — which I had already followed 
in the memoirs of Sicily and Sardinia — because it is best 
suited to the degree of my knowledge in that department, 
and enables me to keep clear of the more intricate systems 
recently introduced. Among the Sicilian names a few are 
added in the Sardinian vernacular, the two being sufficiently 
in alliance to make but little difference ; and an Italian 
will find no difficulty in understanding them at sight. I 
will therefore proceed to the enumeration, merely remark- 
ing by the way, that though mostly handsomer than 
British fishes, those of the Mediterranean Sea are, in 
general, not to be compared with them in flavour. 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 199 



I. THE PRINCIPAL MEDITERRANEAN FISHES. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Accipenser huso Beluga Great sturgeon. 

■ sturio StoHunu Sturgeon. 

Ammodytes argenteus . . . Lussi White sand-eel. 

lancea Agugliattu Higgle. 

tobianus . . . Aguglia Sand-lance, or hornel. 

Anarrhichas lupus Pisci lupu Sea- wolf . 

strigonus ... Sarpananza Sea-cat. 

Argentina aphya Nunnatu Argentine. 

sphyrsena Curunedda Spit-fish. 

Atherina hepsetus Pisci virgatu Mediterranean smelt, 

menidia Trotischeddu Grey atherine. 

■ presbyter Majetica Sand-smelt. 

Balistes lunulatus Fanfra Crescent balistes. 

scolopax Pesce balestra File-fish. 

vetula Pesce sozzu Old-wife. 

Blennius alauda Durgannu Sea-lark. 

cornutus Mustia 'mperiali . . . Horned blenny. 

galerita Bavusa cu tuppe . . . Crested blenny. 

gattorugine ... Patuvanu Tom-pot. 

gibbosus Tombarella Butter-fish. 

gunellus Gurgiumi Gunnel. 

labrus Tordu bavusuni Guffer. 

mustela Bausedda Weasel blenny. 

ocellaris Mesoro Sea butterfly. 

pholis Missuru Shan, or shanny. 

physis Bavusuni Forked hake. 

tentacularis ... Bausa ucchiuta Tentaculated blenny. 

viviparus Gurgiuneddu Eel pout, or green bone. 

Callionymus dracunculus Velleiu Gowdie. 

■ ■ lyra Dragone marinu Skulpin. 

pusillus Ampisciu Small skulpin. 

Centriscus scolopax Trurnbina Sea snipe, or bellows-fish. 

Cepola marginata Spirdottu Tape-fish. 

rubescens Signu di Salomone... Red snake-fish. 

taenia Pisci barmera Ribbon-fish. 

Chsetodon paru Muolla Square chaetodon. 

vetula Ogiusa Sea-rabbit. 

Clupea alosa Saboga Shad. 

amara Aleccia Gipsy herring. 



encrasicolus A nciova, or alici ... Anchovy. 

pilchardus Saraca Pilchard. 

siculus Cicirelli Sicilian whitebait. 

sprattus Sarddla, or JSardina Sprat. 

Coryphtena liippurua ... Capuni Dolphin of seamen. 

imperialis ... Pettinu 'mperiale ... Dorado. 

novacula ... Pettinu, Razor-li>h. 



200 MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Coryphaena pompilus . . . Lampuca Striped coryphene. 

Cottus cataphractus Pogge Mailed bullhead. 

dracunculus Mustuzola Tommy Logge. 

gobio Capo grosso Miller's thumb. 

scorpius Pisci capone Sea scorpion. 

Cyprinus alburnus Donzella Bleak. 

auratus Pesci di oru Gold-fish. 

barbus Barbio Barbel. 

brama Mutzula ... Bream. 

carpio Carpiuni Carp. 

■ erythropthalmus Laccia Rudd, or red-eye. 

gobio Ghiuzzu Gudgeon. 

jeses Capitano Chub, or jantling. 

• leuciscus ATbula Dace, dare, or dai't. 

phoxinus Pisciulinu Minnow, or pink. 

rutilus Pisci duci Roach. 

tinea Ckeppia Tench. 

Delphinus delphis DelfiniC Dolphin. 

■ orca Cetaceo Grampus. 

phocsena Pisci porcu Porpoise. 

Echineis cidaris Ampvscia Sea turban. 

naucrates Smsapega Long sucking-fish. 

remora Pisci 'ntoppu Sucking-fish. 

Esox acus Cavanucci Lax. 

belone Agugghia Gar-fish. 

lucius Cane di sciumi Pike, Jack, or Luce. 

saurus Sauru Skipper. 

sphyraena A luzzaru Sea pike. 

stomias Stomica Piper-mouthed pike. 

synodus Fra di man West India pike. 

Exocaetus exilien s A ncileddu 'mperiali Swallow flying-fish. 

volitans Saltatore Flying-fish. 

Gadus seglefinus Baccala friscu Haddock. 

asellus mollis . . . Moncaru Groundling. 

asellus varius ... Asnelli Bibb. 

barbatus Tavila Whiting pout. 

blennoides Mirruzzu duci Dorse. 

carbonarius Ciaula Coal-fish. 

lota Concunieddu Burbot. 

luscus Munaceddu Miller's thumb. 

Mediterraneus . . . Sazzaluga di mare . . . Mediterranean cod. 

merlangus Merlangu jancu Whiting. 

merlucius Mirruzzu Hake. 

minutus Pesci ficu Capelin, or Poore. 

molva Muncaru Rock ling. 

. mustela Mustia Five-bearded cod. 

pollachius Vacchetta Whiting pollack. 

punctatus Asnellu Whistle gade. 

Gasterosteus aculeatus . . . Maccionu Banstickle. 

. ductor Capitanu Pilot-fish. 



MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 201 

Latin Names. Sicilian - . English. 

Gasterosteus pungitius . . . Spinarola . Lesser stickle-back. 

• spinachia . . . Ispriotta Thorny stickle-back. 

Gobius aphya Gurgiuneddu Spotted goby. 

bicolor Teurrazza Black-and-brown goby. 

joso Gobbiu jancu White goby. 

melanurus Gobbiu pureddu Sea gudgeon. 

minutu s Urgiuni di fangu . . . Polewig. 

niger Urgiuni niuni Rock-fish. 

paganellus Gorgionu Brown goby. 



Gymnotus acus A ncidduzza Naked gymnote. 

electricus Diavulicchiu Cramp-fish. 

Labrus Adriaticus Perciudda Basse. 

anthias Munacedda Holy basse, or barber. 

cappa Lappami Gold sinny. 

Cretensis Zigarella Cretan basse. 

cynsedus Pizza di Re Yellow basse. 

donzella Dunzedda Bergil. 

fuscus lodiolu Tawny basse. 

• guttatus Turdu stizziatu Comber. 

hepatus Lappanu saragu Liver basse. 

Julis AritAa, or Marabut.. . Rainbow fish. 

maculatus Menduredda Spotted wrasse. 

merula Turdu d'A rca Black labrus. 

oli vaceus Pettineddu Sea- wife. 

pavo Lappanu beddu Peacock labrus. 

psittachus Rucchia Parrot wrasse. 

reticulatus Turdu arrocali Reticulated wrasse. 

scarus Bricchese The scare labrus. 

tinea Verdaliddu Golden maid. 

turdus Turdu Sea tench. 

venosus Serra Bloated basse. 

vetula Zittu Little sea-wife. 

viridis Virdu Green labrus. 

Lophius Europeus Rannu di mari Toad-fish, or sea-frog. 

piscatorius Piscadrixi Angler, or sea-devil. 

Mugil auratus Daurinu Gold-headed mugil. 

cephalus Malettu o cefalu Common mullet. 

labrosus Labronu Thick-lipped mullet. 

saliens Flavetoni Leaping mugil. 

Mullus apogon Trigghia svarvata . . . Bearded mullet. 

imberbis Re di trigghia Beardless mullet. 

ruber Trigghia mangiadori Red mullet. 

surmuletus Trigghia di solu Sur mullet. 

Muraena anguilla Muragliunu Sharp-nosed eel. 

catenata Murenaficu Chain-striped murena. 

conger Anguidda grongu ... Conger eel. 

Muraena Helena Murena nera Roman eel. 

marina Anguidda di mari.. . Grig. 

myruH Suiiru Sea-snake. 

punctata Gargiuni Muroy. 



202 MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Ophidiura aculeatum Nasoni Snout-fish. 

barbatum Calagneris o lissa . . . Bearded ophidi on. 

hy drophis Bandiera niuri Water serpent. 

imberbe Culuri di mari Beardless ophidion. 

Osmerus eperlanus Tarantula Smelt. 

saurus Tammurru Lizard smelt. 

stracion gibbosus Pesce luna Oyster-fish. 

hystrix Rizza Porcupine-fish. 

mola Papatundo Large sun-fish. 

nasus Pescesoddu Trunk-fish. 

Percaasper Serraina Yellow perch. 

cabrilla Cabrilliu Smooth serranus. 

cernua Pizzuni Ruffe, or pope. 

fluviatilis Ragnu vwraci Perch. 

giber Boragie Hunchback perch. 

labrax Spigula Wolf perch, or basse. 

lucio Percia stizzata Spotted perch. 

marina Percia grossa Bergylt. 

punctata Spimda Thorny perch. 

pusilla Conaditu Dwarf perch. 

sacer Tumulu Holy perch. 

scriba Mulassu Learned perch. 

telescopus Occhi grosso Large-eyed serranus. 

-umbra Umbrinu Dusky serranus. 

Petromyzon branchialis Lampernu Pride. 

fluviatilis ... Alampria Nine-eyed eel. 

■ marina Papapixi Lamprey. 

Pleuronectes flesus Piscipassera Flounder, or flook. 

hippoglossus Stocapisci 'mperiali Holibut. 

limanda Palaja di arena Dab, or saltie. 

maximus ... Rumulu 'mperiali ... Turbot. 

passer Passer a picciula Whiff. 

platessa Palaja Plaice. 

rhombus ... Lupiddu Kitt, or pearl-fish. 

solea Linquata Sole. 



Raia altavela Amiema Finless ray. 

aquila Pisci aquila Sea eagle, or whip ray. 

aspera .- Pescilepre Shagreenray. 

batis Cappuccina Skate, or maid. 

bicolor Razza Trygon, or brett. 

clavata Picara pitrusa Thornback. 

lasvis Liscia Slippery ray. 

marginata . . . ,, Miragliettu Small- eyed ray. 

miraletus Quattro occhi Homelyn. 

oculata Occhiateddu Mirror ray. 

oxyrynchus Farassa Sharp-nosed ray. 

pastinaca Cadairu Sting ray, or flaire. 

radiata Pigara scappucina. . . Starry ray. 

rubus Pigara spinusa Rough ray. 

torpedo Pisci diavulu Torpedo, or cramp-fish. 



MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 203 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Salmo albula Cefalu Phinock, or whitling. 

eperlanus Sazzaluga "White smelt. 

fario Troucia Trout. 

saurus Tammurru Sea-lizard. 

thymallus Ombrina Grayling. 

trutta Trota russigna Sea- trout. 

Sciaena aquila Feguro Stone basse. 

cappa Tiligugu Maigre. 

cirrosa Umbrina 'mperiali. . . Hairy sea-hog. 

lineata Spatvla Streaked sea-hog. 

nigra Umbrina niura Black umbra. 

umbra Tristareddu Sea-crow. 

Scomber aculeatis Serviola Cross spine. 

alalunga Alalungu Albicore. 

colias Scurmu 'mperiali . . . Spanish mackerel. 

■ ductor Capitanu Little pilot-fish. 

glaucus Savrella Sea-green mackerel. 

pelamis Palamitu' mperiali... Bonito. 

scomber Scurmu Mackerel. 

thynnus Tunnu Tunny. 

■ trachurus Swreddu Horse-mackerel, or scad. 

Scorpaena lutea Scrofaneddu Yellow sea-scorpion. 

porcus Scrofanu Porcine scorpama. 

pristis Capuluzzu Sea-scorpion. 

scorpius Mazzicni Father lasher. 

scrofa Cepola capuni Sow-scorpion. 

Silurua electricus Babbauru Sheath-fish. 

glanis Glannu Sly silurus. 

Sparus annularis Lappanu spareddu Grey pickerel. 

aurata Canina 'ndorata ... Gilt head. 

bobps Vuorpa Bull-eyed sparus. 

cantharus Ciuciastra Brown bull-fish. 

chromis Monacedda Maroon spare. 

dentex Dentici Four-toothed spare. 

ery thrinus Pagedda luvaru Spanish bream, or rotchet. 

hurta Prau 'mperiali Fork-tailed spare. 

maena Minnula Cockerel. 

melanurus Macchiettu Black-tailed spare. 

mormyrus Ajula 'mperiali Mormyre. 

pagrus Pagru Red gilt-head. 

salpa Scilpa Braize. 

sargus Saracu, or murruda Egyptian spare. 

saxatilis Sparagghiuni Black rock-fish. 

smaris Minnula 'mperiali . . . Smare. 

sparus Spargu Becker. 

vetula Varatidu Black bream, or old wife. 

vulgaris Gujicidduzzu Braize. 

Bqoalnfl acanthias Pisci scioccu Picked dog-fish. 

canicula Pisci cani Morgay, or cott-fish. 

carcharias Canuzzu White shark, or lamia. 



204 MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Squalus catulus Rusetta Hound-fish. 

centrina Gattu di mari Brown shark. 

galeus Nocivolo Tope, or miller's dog. 

glaucus Lupu di mari Blue shark. 

maximus Grossu cani di mari Basking shark, or sail-fish. 

mustelus Pisci palummu Smooth hound- fish. 

pristis Sia, or Sega Saw-fish. 

spinax Chelpu Lesser picked dog-fish. 

squatina Squadru Monk, or angel-fish. 

stellaris Pisci tigrinu Spotted shark. 

tiburio Magnusa Rock shark. 

vulpes Gaddolu Thresher, or sea-fox. 

zygama Marteddu Hammer -headed shark. 

Stromateus argenteus ... Lampuga Pampus. 

fiatola Fiatula 'mperiali ... Striped stromat. 

Syngnathus acus Agujeddu Pipe-fish, or sea-adder. 

hippocampus... Cavaddu santu Sea-horse. 

marinus Trwnbettina Little pipe-fish. 

ophidion Qomwmk Sea-snake. 

typhle Pisci tialu Needle-fish. 

Tetrodon hispidus . Luna di mari Sea-globe. 

mola Pisci tammurru Sun-fish. 

truncatus Pisci tundu Oblong sun-fish. 

Trachinus draco Traccina Sea-dragon, or sting-bull . 

j ugulares Majai -u la rocca Weever. 

vipera Aragnu Otter pike. 

Trigla cataphracta Pisci curruda Sea-rocket. 

cuculus Labhru russignu Red cuckoo gurnard. 

gurnardus Gumardu No wd, or grey gurnard. 

hirundo Fagiani 'mperiali . . . Tub-fish. 

lineata Pelunganu Streaked, or rock gurnard. 

lucerna Tigiega Lantern gurnard. 

lyra Gaddinettu Piper. 

milvus Tavia Yillock. 

volitans Pisci volatori Flying gurnard. 

Uranoscopus cocius Cocciu 'mperiali Little star-gazer. 

scaber Papa cucctdo Bearded star-gazer. 

Xiphias gladius Pisci spata Sword-fish. 

platypterus Macairu Broad -backed sword-fish. 

Zeus aper Piscitariolu Boar-fish. 

faber Pisci di Pedru John Dory. 

gallus Gaddu Silver-fish. 

luna Cetola Opah, or king-fish. 



MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 205 



II. THE PRINCIPAL CRUSTACEA, TESTACEA, 
AND MOLLUSKS. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Acalephae (varieties) Attaccaticciu mamma Sea-jellies. 

Actinia (varieties ) Sciuri di mari Sea-anemonies. 

Alcyonium bursa Borza marina Sea-apple. 

digitatum Cinque dita Dead-man's hand. 

epipatrum Penna marina Sea-pen. 

ficus Fichi di mari Sea-lungs. 

— lyncurium Arancia di mari Sea-orange. 

Anomia caput-serpentis Capo di serpe Terebratula. 

ephippium Matmperna fausa . . . Saddle anomia. 

vitrea Terra bratula Palermo terebratula. 

Aplysia depilans Leporina.. Coarse sponge. 

Area barbata Sponguli pilusi Bearded ark. 

navicularis Luntra Boat ark. 

Noae Spongulu Noah's ark. 

pilosa Nuci pilusa Hairy ark. 

Argonauta argo Todari Paper nautilus. 

calcar Nautiliu shperoni . . . Spur nautilus. 

carinaria Firola Keel-edged nautilus. 

scafa Navicella Boat-shaped nautilus. 

Asteria (varieties) Stiddi di mari Star-fishes. 

Asterias aranciaca Ragnatelu Butt-horn. 

caput-Medusae . . . Stidda de Medusa .. . Shetland argus. 

ophiusa Stidda serpentara . . . Sand-star. 

ruben3 Stidda russigna Cross-fish. 

Buccinum echinophorum Castagna di mari . . . Purple whelk. 

galea Brognu, or Vrognu Helmet-shell. 

gibbosulum ... Gdbbodimari Hunchback. 

haemostoma ... Vocca 'manguinata Red-lipped whelk. 

sabarun Vrognu darina Grey casket. 

Tyrrhenum ... Vrognu 'mperiali ... Purple whelk. Burret. 

Bulla ampulla Gunfiata Obtuse dipper. 

carnea Vessica di mari Ovula, or egg. 

Cyprsea Velidda di mari . . . Common cowry. 

hydatis Orecchiu Pillar-lip. 

lepida Squamosa Orange-coloured dipper. 

Cancer arctus Cicala di mari Broad lobster. 

astacus Gammaru di sciwmi Cray-fish. 

bernardus Diavulicchiu di mari Soldier crab. 

crangon Granciulinu Shrimp. 

depurator Granciu di fangu . . . Cleanser crab. 

gammarus Grancm Lobster. 

locusta Alausta Spiny lobster. 

maenas Granciu di rina Common crab. 

pagurus Granciu fudduni ... Hermit. 

squilla Gammaru Prawn. 



206 MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Cardium aculeatum Galli spinusi Prickly cockle. 

edule Chiocchiolu a mangi a Common cockle, 

tuberculatum . . . Frutti d 'arena Sand cockle. 

unedo Crocchiula'ncanalata Ribbed cockle. 

Cellepora spongites Spongia vitrosa Fragile hydra. 

Chama antiquata Nuci di mari Sea-nut. 

bicornis Ostrica monaca Sea-cabbage leaf. 

calyculata Chiocciola spinusa . . . Scaly clamp . 

cor Corn di vol Bull's heart. 

gryphoides Ostrica russigna ... Rock clamp.- 

Chiton aculeatis Scaglia spinusa Prickly coat-of-mail. 

fulvus Scaglia gialliccia . . . Tawny coat-of-mail. 



Conus Mediterraneus ... A mmiraglio Lake cone. 

monachus Cappuccinu Crown-shell. 

rusticus A mmiraglio giallo . . . Olive. 

siculus Cappuccinu beddu . . . Volute cone. 

Corallina acetabulum ... Sertolariu Sea-parasol. 

fragilissima ... Muscu marinu Milk-white coralline. 

officinalis A Iga viva Vermifuge grass. 

opuntia Scuteddu di mari . . . Sea-kidney. 

Cyprsea lota Ciprignu White tooth-shell. 

lurida Surriceddu Sea-mouse. 

moneta Ciprignedda janca. . . Black-man's tooth. 

pantherina Ciprigna stizzata ... Spotted cowry. 

spurca Ciprigneddu Sea-louse. 

Dentalium artalis Occhi duru Lake tooth-shell. 

Donax irus Arceddu di scogliu. . . Rock Venus. 

scrip ta A rceddu stizziatu . . . Solen, or razor-fish. 

trunculus Arceddu giarnusu... S< 



Doris argo Carciofu di mari . . . Sea-lemon. 

stellata Carciofulu Speckled sea-lemon. 

Echinus cidaris Rizza a sfera Turbaned sea-urchin. 

esculentus Rizza carisa Sea-egg. 

purpureus Ficu d' 'India di mari Grey urchin. 

spatagus Rizza spatagu Hairy sea- egg. 

Flustra hispida Escara securu Sea-mat. 

pilosa Milleporu White flustra. 

truncata Cervunu Foliaceous polype. 

Gorgonia antipathes Curadduniwi Black coral. 

coralloides Quraddu giallu Yellow gorgon. 

flabellum A Ibero di mari Branched gorgon. 

mollis Gramegna Coriaceous gorgon. 

nobilis Curaddu veru True red coral. 

patula Curaddu schiacciatu Horny gorgon. 

verrucosa Curaddu puorrosa... Sea-fan. 

verticillaris ... C. Spezzatu Sea-feather. 

viminalis C. Salciosu Isis polype. 

Haliotis bistreata Pateddu a doppie righe Ovate ear. 

lamellosa P. Sfogliatu Smooth ear. 

striata P. Strisciatu Wrinkled eai\ 



MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 207 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Haliotis tuberculata ...... Pateddu reali Common sea-ear. 

Helix decollata Luraaca scapezzata . . . Sea-slug. 

lacuna Lumaca surcata Whorl. 

Umax Lippariddu Sea-snail. 

Holothuriae (varieties) ... Citriolu marinu Sea-cucumbers. 

Holothuria physalis Aretusa Portuguese man-of-war. 

tremula Tremante Fistularia. 

Lepas anatifera Summuzzaroli Duck barnacle. 

anserifera Conca pedata Goose barnacle. 

balanus Ghiannaru di mari Acorn shell. 

costata Ghiannaru surcatu Ribbed barnacle. 

pollicipes Ghiannaru murtipedi Cornucopiae. 

rugosa Ghiannaru grinzosu Wrinkled barnacle. 

tintinnabulum Ghiannaru sonante Bell acorn-shell. 

Mactra corallina Truogolu curaddusu Smooth mactra. 

solida Truogolu marmoreu Ribbed mactra. 

stultorum Truogolu dipazzi ... Gaping tethys. 

Madrepora ananas Matripora ananosa Starry madrepore. 

anthophyllum Matripora frondosa Simple medusa. 

cerebrum Pledra cervulosa ... Brain-stone. 

cyathus Tazza di nettuno . . . Saucer madrepore. 

verrucaria Matripora caccia porru Little medusa. 

virginea Matripora ianca White finger. 

Medusae (varieties) Ortica marina Sea-nettles. 

Medusa aurita Campanulu Sea-umbrella. 

cruciata Medusa a croce White-cross medusa. 

infundilatum . . . Medusa a imbutu . . . Sea-blubber. 

marsupialis Medusa a bursa ... Sea-purse. 

noctiluca Ogghiu a mari Sea-Ian thorn. 

pilearis Medusa pilusu Hairy blubber. 

pulmo Pwrmonariu Eight-arm medusa. 

vetella Escariunu Naked-eyed medusa. 

Millepora aspera Idra rozza Erect hydra. 

cardunculus ... Cardonu di mari ... Sea-thistle. 

cellulosa Idra a merlettu Lace polype. 

miniacea Millepora vermiglia Red hydra. 

pumila Picciuna di man ... Shell-sucker. 

reticulata Millepora a rete Porous millepore. 

tubulosa Idra maccaronaja . . . Parasite hydra. 

Murex cutaceus Buccinu pellicciatu Coated murex. 

gy rinus Ranocchieddu Rock frog. 

melongena Pirulu Pear-shaped murex. 

olearium Ranellu Oil-jar. 

purpura Buccinu purpureu . . . Purple whelk. 

puso Vessigutu Wreath rock. 

Syracusanus Buccinu Sicilianu . . . Keeled rock. 

trunculus B. Truncatu Knotty rock. 

Myaarenaria Cardiau Sand gaper. 

truncate Ascidiu Toothed gaper. 

Mytilus barbatua Nicchia varvata Bearded mussel. 



208 MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Mytilis bidens Nicchia a dui rente Double-toothed mussel. 

hirundo Rondinellu Swallow mussel. 

lithophagus Percia-pietra Burrowing mussel. 

rugosus Modiuli Furrowed mussel. 

vilelia Nicchia a vela Sea-nettle. 

unguis Unghianatu Claw mussel. 

Nerita glaucina Naticao Blind nerite. 

officinalis Yalxatu Snail nerite. 

viridis Concha nivea Neritina. 

Ostrea crenulata Ostreca intaccata . . . Little oyster. 

edulis Crocchiuli Common oyster. 

lima Ostreca raschia Imbricate oyster. 

maxima Pettenu Scallop. 

pes felis Pettencuru Striated oyster. 

pusio Picciridda Long oyster. 

plicatula Ostreca torciuta Grey oyster. 

Patella atra Patedda niuri Black limpet. 

caerulea Patedda tur china . . . Blue limpet . 



— crepidula Pianeddu Oval limpet. 

— fla viola Patedda gialliccia . . . Yellow slipper. 

— lacustris Patedda di lacu Ancylus, or bonnet. 

— mammillaris Frutta di mari Striate limpet. 

— nimbosa Fizzureddu Ovate limpet. 

— oculus Patedda ucchiatu . . . Goat's -eye limpet. 

pectinata Patedda erpicata . . . Wrinkled limpet. 



Pennatula antennina ... Pennuzzu Spotted sea-pen. 

grisea Lucioleddu Shining sea-pen. 

mirabilis Pennuzzu filatu Filiform sea-pen. 

rubra Pennuzzu russignu . . . Variegated sea-pen. 

Pholas Candida Dattoli janchi Piercer. 

dactylus Dattoli di mari Piddock. 

striata D. Strisciatu Ovate pholas. 

Pinna marina Lana conca Wing shell. 

muricata Lana spinusa Prickly nacre. 

nobilis Pinnula Pearly nacre. 

squamosa Madre-perna scagliata Scaly nacre. 

sacata Saccone Sea satchel. 

Sepia loli go Calamaru Ink- fish. 

octapus Ottapedia Long-armed cuttle. 

officinalis Siccia Cuttle-fish. 

sepiola Calamareddu Sea-pulp. 

Serpula echinata Verme spinosu Glabrous sea- worm. 

glomerata Agghiuommeratu ... Winding sea- worm. 

Sertularia abietina Pigna di mari Sea-fig. 

halecina Comu di JBove Horny polype. 

misenensis ... Acciu di mari Sea-thread, or bristle. 

myriophyllum Musca maritima . . . Leafy polype. 

pennaria Sciuru marinu Sea- tuft. 

thuja Celhdariu Bottle brush. 

Solen cultellus Cannulicchm Sheath, or razor-shell. 



MEDITERRANEAN ICHTHYOLOGY. 209 

Latin Names. Sicilian. English. 

Solen ensis Cannulicchiu stortu Scimitar. 

siliqua Conca niura ... Pod. 

Spondylus gsederopus ... Ostreca spinusa Prickly oyster. 

Spongia fasciculata Fasteddu di mare . . . Sea-bunch. 

ficiformis Ficu spognusu Top-shaped sponge. 

infundiliformis... Imbuto di spogna ... Sea-funnel. 

officinalis Spogna comune Common sponge. 

tomentosa A rtica marina Stinging sponge. 

Strombus clavus Brogniuni Trumpet shell. 

pes pelicani . . . Conca piegaru Cormorant's foot. 

tuberculatus . . . Conca torta Sea-screw. 

Tellina cornea Foglia dura Pandora. 

digitaria Arceddu Lucina. 

donacina Faccia di rosa Rayed tellen . 

gargadia Rematwu ... Toothed tellen. 



leporina Fimbriu Thetis. 

Teredo clava Verme di legnami . . . Clavated borer. 

navalis Vergale marina Ship- worm. 

Trochus conulus Cunieddu Top-shell. 

divaricatus Stregone di mari .. Camisole. 

perversus Cunieddu a manu manca Left-handed top. 

striatus Guscio di mari Channelled camisole. 

Tubipora flabellaris Nodo di mari Depressed nereis. 

pinnata A Icyone di mari Erect nereis. 

■ serpens Pietra sertolaria ... Tubular coral . 

Tubularia cornucopise ... Penna di mari Tubular coralline. 

fistulosa Salce di mari Bugle coralline. 

■ indivisa Alga di vermi Grey tubularia. 

Turbo clathrus Curnicchi di mari . . . "Wreathed turban. 

littoreus Lumaceddu Periwinkle. 

rugosus Occhi di S. Lucia . . . Screw-winkle. 

sanguineus Lumacedda russigna Purple wreath. 

terebra Curnicchiuli Auger turban. 

> turritella Turbu stortu Staircase-shell. 

Venus exoleta Bagatteddu Zigzag Venus. 

tigerina Conca bedda Tropical Venus. 

verrucosa Vongulu Rough Venus. 

Voluta mitra Turricula granulata Mitral volute. 

oliva Ruolo oliva Olive-shell. 

rustica La Trenga Cylinder. 

tornatilis Tornuteddu Creeping olive. 

Zoanthus (varieties) Sciuri vivi Animal flowers. 



PART III. 

OF THE MEDITERRANEAN WINDS, WEATHER, 
AND ATMOSPHERICAL PHENOMENA. 



§ 1. Climate of the Mediterranean. 

Ancient \X7E are not here going upon the old geographical 
" parallels and longest -day divisions, by which the 
inner sea occupied nearly five of the ancient climates, but 
shall adhere to the general sense of the word climate as at 
present used, — namely, to denote the state of the country 
as to changes in heat, moisture, winds, and other agents 
which sensibly affect our organs, promote the development 
of plants, and thus render the land fit for animal and 
vegetable life. Yet the Mediterranean is a large and varied 
space to be thus included under one head ; since, besides the 
greatness of its longitudinal extent, it includes a latitudinal 
space of sixteen degrees — from 30° to 46°. So extensive a 
region is liable to almost numberless variations ; for while 
on its northern shores the vicissitudes are sudden and 
violent, even hyperborean cold existing at certain seasons, 
the heat is all but inter-tropical in the south ; and though, 
as will presently be shown, its general salubrity is deterio- 
rated by malaria, this sea has ever — both from its atmo- 
spheric and geographical position — borne a high reputation 
for a temperate and healthful climate. 

Meteor- ^he vital importance of meteorology, as well to the 

landsman as the sailor, has been acknowledged for ages ; 
yet the laws which govern atmospherical changes have not 



METEOROLOGY. 211 

received the full attention of investigation which human 
interests require : before it has been more completely re- 
duced to a demonstrable theory, it cannot be ranked among 
the positive physical sciences ; and for this it yet demands 
a large accumulation of accurate and well-arranged facts. 
We are not, however, on this account, to suppose that we 
know nothing about the rare and elastic medium in which 
we live and move ; on the contrary, while Philosophy so 
long neglected her duty, Knowledge had been sufficiently 
alert to render many persons to whom it was necessary, in 
a degree, weather-wise. It was therefore — besides our own 
general use of the observations — with a hope of aiding 
further inquiry into the properties of our wondrous envelope, 
that I diligently registered the fluctuating phenomena as 
they occurred. These were my views upwards of forty 
years ago, when the inconstant and uncertain nature of 
wind made it seem impossible to reduce it to any certain 
law, much less to connect it with the general movement of 
the atmosphere over the whole earth. In the more fickle 
latitudes this may be a labour of much time, since the 
difficulties appear almost insuperable ; but the powerful 
light thrown on the inquiry by monsoons, trade-winds, and 
hurricanes, places the further explanation of apparent 
anomalies within hope. The laws of atmospheric pheno- 
mena near the equator have recently been sufficiently 
made out to afford reason to hope that the theory will, ere 
long, be more nearly approached : the laws already ascer- 
tained are such an unexpected advance, and display such 
a regularity and order, as could scarcely have been looked 
for in our times. 

With an earnest desire to strengthen the grand outline On my 

means of 

then so indistinctly traced, I availed myself of the oppor- observa- 
tunity before me of substituting for prevalent impressions 
and erroneous notions suggested by the senses, the more 
exact and secure method of observation now so happily 
applied. But though all possible pains were taken, 

p2 



212 DEFECTS OF THE REGISTERS. 

our instruments were too few and deficient for the 
attainment of that accuracy which science now demands : 
indeed, what chance had I in 1812 of purchasing perfect 
state of in- barometers, thermometers, and hygrometers, when, in this 
' very year of our Lord 1852, Mr. Glaisher, of the Royal 
Observatory at Greenwich, in a lecture read to the Society 
of Arts, on the probable effect of the Great Exhibition in 
the Crystal Palace in improving our mechanics, complained 
that his exertions in the cause of meteorology had been 
checked by the glaring deficiencies in the atmospheric and 
eudiometric instruments, and the present impracticability 
of procuring better? In the course of his address, this 
able meteorologist quoted a communication made to him 
by the able Professor, W. H. Miller, of Cambridge, 
which is so much in point, that an extract must be here 
given : — 

Respecting barometers, Schouw discovered a remarkable law between 
latitude and barometric pressure ; but nearly every one of the English 
observations were doubtful, on account of the badness of instruments and 
neglect of data for reducing the observations, many of the observers having 
used worthless instruments, in ignorance that better were in existence. I 
tried to verify this law of Schouw's by using various English observations. 

Six years observations in the Mediterranean, by Captain Smyth, I 
reduced as far as I could ; but the labour was thrown away, because the 
instruments did not admit of determining the errors, — that is, the error was 
not constant. 

Professor Chevallier, of Durham, had observed with a high-priced 
barometer for nine years, and that an observation should not be lost, had 
instructed the ladies of his family to observe. He tried to obtain the con- 
stant error by comparison with a barometer of my own, of Bunton's con- 
struction. The error was extremely variable ; he anatomized his barometer, 
and found that the error mainly depended on the hygrometric state of the 
atmosphere. 

Observations made at Madras, for twenty -three years, by Mr. Golding- 
ham, and printed in the East India Company's costly volume, are, for the 
same reasons, worth less than nothing. Lieutenant Sullivan, R.N., made 
numerous observations at the Falkland Islands, which, for the same reasons, 
are worthless. The same observation applies to Captain Fitzroy's observa- 
tions at an important meteorological station — the neighbourhood of Cape 
Horn. 

object of Still, for a right comprehension of the subject before us, 

Sster." it should be borne in mind that the material uses to which 

I applied the barometer and thermometer — namely, for 



ENDS OF MY REGISTRY. 213 

correcting the refraction of the heavenly bodies in altitude, 
and for watching atmospherical changes — were very fairly 
answered : and though we shall return to the subject, it 
may at once here be emphatically stated, that the marine 
barometer — with all its alleged defects— is one of the most 
valuable of the boons which science has given to naviga- 
tion. But I certainly had entertained hopes of being more 
useful to abstract philosophy, being for some time unaware 
of the imperfect graduation and other defects of the means 
requisite for pursuing that object. Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, 
the Ionian Islands, and Tripoli in Africa, were the points 
of my chief experience ; and I considered that careful 
meteorological registers made at all the places visited, 
would have afforded some normal points of utility to 
inquiry. When my friend, Professor Miller, returned the Professor 

; ^ J / . ' . ' Miller's 

six years' observations which he had kindly undertaken the discussion, 
drudgery of sifting, I was less surprised than disappointed 
at the severe sentence above expressed ; and he added, — 
' 1 intended to compare your observations in the Channel 
with the Royal Society observations contemporaneously 
made, but was deterred by the account Mr. Hudson (the 
Assistant-Secretary) gave of the careless manner in which 
the latter were made at that time/ 

Yet, although defeated, my efforts were not abandoned ; My own 
and as that whole range of observations had failed, I deter- 
mined to re-examine those which were made after I 
returned to England in 1820, and procured a fresh supply 
of instruments. In the usual way of obtaining the mean 
height of the barometer, it is indispensable to the accuracy 
of the calculation, that an equal number of observations be 
obtained corresponding to winds from opposite directions. 
Now, this being circumstantially precluded, I proceeded 
after Professor Miller's own method of treatment, upon my 
register from leaving Sheerness on the 7th of August, 
1821, to August the 2nd, 1824 ; by which process a more 



214 BAROMETRIC ZERO. 

satisfactory conclusion than his first was obtained. It is 
as follows : — 

The sum of 1049 readings of the barometer between the above-men- 
tioned dates, reduced to the freezing point, is 31333*6 inches, and the sum 
of the latitudes of the places of observation is 38578° ; hence, dividing by 
1049, we have — 

Mean barometer reading, 29*870 ; and mean latitude, 36° 46' 33". 

The observations were taken at 8h. a.m., to accord with the ship avocations. 
Now, according to Forbes, the diurnal oscillation is, in inches, = 0*1193 
(cos. mean lat.) •§ 0*0149 inches ; and the pressure is at a maximum at 
9h. a.m. ; hence one hour before the maximum being = one hour after it, 
there remain two hours to noon, or T Vth of the daily oscillation to be 
applied. 

Cos. lat 36,46,33 log. 9-903629 

T \thof*1193. .= *0099 log. 8*000000 



Nat. Num. . . . *008 == log. 7*903629 

Mean barometer . . 29*870 



Corrected to noon as 29*862 

To correct this reading to the standard of the instruments in the Paris 
observatory, we take the mean of 28 observations made on board my ship, 
the Adventure, at Sheerness, and on the way from thence to Falmouth, at 
0° C, = 29*826 ; and the mean of 28 observations made at Paris at 9h. a.m. 
on the same days, at 0° C, = 29*788. Now the pressure at the level of the 
sea in the latitude at Paris, exceeds that at the level of the sea in the mean 
latitude of the track from Sheerness to Falmouth by 0*015 inches, according 
to Schouw; which, deducted from 29*788, leaves 29*773 ; and on the other 
hand, the pressure at the Observatory at Paris being less than at the level 
of the sea in the same latitude, we must add, — 

By Schouw . 0213"*! 29-986"*i which, deducted f- 16(n hence, the mean C= 30-022 

Byltamond . -270 I 30-043 I from29-826,leaves I -217 I barom. in Mediter-I -079 

By levels . . -222 [29-995 f the various defi-j -169 franean = 29861 cor- 1 '031 

By other levels -282 J 30*055 J ciencies of . . 1*229 J rected by Paris bar. I -091 

Conclusion As this process yields a mean = 30056 nearly, I trust 

thereupon. 

that general comparisons are afforded by my barometric 
conclusions : and they were constantly compared and 
marked on diagrams with the oscillations of the sympieso- 
meter, a very portable instrument, contrived, by means of 
hydrogen gas and oil, to indicate most sensitively the 
changes of the pressure of the atmosphere. The scales of 
the thermometers, though not perfect, were very fairly 
divided, and we had the best that Dollond and T. Jones 
could furnish. Our weakest point was in the hygrometer, 
one of De Luc's, for Mr. Daniell — my regretted friend and 



MEDITERRANEAN METEOROLOGY. 215 

successor as Foreign Secretary to the Royal Society, when Mr. Danieii. 
I was called into Wales in 1839 — had not then promul- 
gated his beautiful experiments on wet bulbs and dew- 
points. Aware, therefore, that my means were short of 
the desired excellence, and relying on the diligence exerted 
in watching them, I still think my meteorological remarks 
will prove trustworthy to navigators, and perhaps to others ; 
more especially as, in drawing up my general deductions, 
I had the great advantage of access to the registers kept 
by my excellent friend, the Abbate Piazzi, from 1791 to 
1815, in the Royal Observatory at Palermo — near the 
mid-latitude which I have assumed. 

In my account of Sicily, published in 1824, I remarked Sicily, 
that ' The medium height of the thermometer is 62*5°, 
of the barometer 29*80 inches, and the annual amount of 
the pluviometer 26 inches. The thermometer in the hottest 
days rises as high as 90° or 92° (in the shade), and very 
seldom falls lower than 36°, even in the depth of winter. 
The highest barometer index I have observed in very 
serene * weather, and light westerly airs, was 30*47 inches ; 
and the lowest, in gloomy weather and south-east gales, 
29*13 inches. In the year 1814, there were 121 overcast 
and cloudy days, on 83 of which rain fell ; 36 misty days ; 
49 of very variable weather, and 159 fine bright days.' 
Of Sardinia, my sketch of which was published in 1828, it Sardinia, 
is stated (page 79) that ' the island lies between the 39th 
and 41st degrees of north latitude, and though the thermo- 
meter ranges from 34° to 90°, I found its mean temperature, 
by a register of Six's thermometer, 61*7°; but this being the 
average only in my cabin in the various ports and bays, 
I tried that of a very deep and limpid spring (44 feet) near 
Porto Conte, in a cavern 120 feet below the surface of the 



* This word, in my Sicily (page 4), is unfortunately printed severe, but 
the context will point out the error. Being absent from England during the 
time it was printing, I was prevented from seeing the proof-sheets. 



216 



MEDITERRANEAN METEOROLOGY. 



earth, and found it to be 602°. The medium height of the 
barometer appears to be about 29*69, the highest point I have 
known in it being 3040, and the lowest 29*20/ A further 
Conclusions, scrutiny of my register leads to the general conclusion that 
the prevalent winds are from the west to the north, and 
the next prevalent are from east-south-east to south ; and 
also that the spring season is usually mild and balmy, with 
frequent showers — the summers are sultry, with occasional 
thunder-storms — autumn is warm and genial, with occa- 
sional rain — and winter, though fine at intervals, is at times 
rainy, tempestuous, and humid. Such, indeed, may be 
assumed as the climate for the mid-latitude of the Medi- 
terranean ; and the view will be more complete by showing 
the monthly variation of the temperature for the mean 
parallel — an isotherm for comparison — as nearly as my 
tables enable me to carry it : — 

January . 
February 
March 
April . . 
May . . 
June . . 

In addition to these deductions, it may aid the inquirer 
to see what may be deemed an approximation to the actual 
climate condition of several stations of the Mediterranean 
Sea, at very slight elevations above its level : — 



Max. 


Min. 


. . 50-1 . 


. 44-3 


. . 51-5 . 


. 46-0 


. . 58-8 . 


. 50-7 


. . 63-6 . 


. 61-0 


. . 68-7 . 


. 64-0 


. . 77-9 . 


. 67'6 





Max. 


Min. 


July . . 


. 79-9 . 


.. 74-1 


August . 


. 81-7 . 


. 76-0 


September 


. 80-1 . 


. 73*5 


October . 


. 77-4 . 


. 65-4 


November 


. 69-3 . 


. 58-9 


December 


. 60-5 . 


.. 49-7 







Barometer. 


Thermometer. 


Rain. 
Inches. 


PLACES. 


Max. Min. 


Max. 


Min. 


Gibraltar . . . 
Marseilles . . 
Sardinia . . 
Rome . . . 
Sicily . . . 
Malta . . . 
Cepbalonia . . 
Constantinople 
Alexandria . 
Tripoli . . . 
Algiers . . . 




30-90 
30-55 
30-40 
30-28 
30-47 
30-39 
30-32 
30-38 
30-16 
30-25 
30-28 


28-62 
29-04 
29-20 
28-73 
2913 
28-80 
29-07 
2916 
29-42 
2950 
28-99 


85-0° 

79-2 

90-0 

82-5 

91-0 

90-2 

90-5 

90-0 

91-5 

92-5 

86-8 


46-8° 

40-5 

34-0 

41-0 

36-0 

46-4 

43-5 

53-4 

51-7 

51-2 

41-5 


31-1 

26-8 
27'5 
30-4 
26-0 
15-0 
21-9 
31-6 
7-6 
10-0 
25-6 



MEDITERRANEAN METEOROLOGY. 217 

These figures afford a pretty fair estimate of the atmo- Remarks on 
spheric pressure and temperature of the Inner Sea, under 
the unequal action of all the disturbing causes ; and in the 
latter table, where I have availed myself of the contribu- 
tions of friends, I have carefully eschewed the wondrous 
but impotent conclusions derived from observations of a 
thermometer placed, as it is called, in the sun — a practice 
on which some of our countrymen abroad are apt to rely, 
not being aware that the heat thus marked by the scale is 
nothing more than that of the instrument itself, thus 
exposed to the continued action of the solar rays. Nothing, 
however, in meteorology, presents a greater uncertainty, 
with the means as yet contrived, than the attempt at 
measuring the annual fall of rain in a given spot ; since so Annual 
much depends upon the nature of the gauge, the ability rain, 
and industry of the observer, and the height and exposure 
of the place. Of this, a crucial example is afforded by the 
registers carefully kept at Gibraltar for nearly half a cen- 
tury, wherein a range of the mean fall yearly is presented, 
varying from 1416 to 62'87 inches in the least and greatest 
quantities ; and we are assured that in the year 1796, when 
the latter fall took place at Gibraltar, at Madrid — the 
centre of an elevated plateau in the middle of Spain — the 
yearly rain measured only ten inches. Such differences 
in places comparatively contiguous,* are not, as might be 
expected, at all uncommon. The mural semicircle formed 
by the Alps on the north of Italy, encloses a basin into 
which the warm southerly winds blow, and the effect is 
such, that while on the northern foot of those mountains 
there are but thirty-five inches of rain, there falls an average 
of fifty-eight inches upon the southern foot; and at Tolmezzo 
in Friuli, in the south-east part of that curve, forming an 



* The greatest annual fall on record is that at Sierra Leone, on the west 
coast of Africa, which amounts to no less than 400 inches! Yet some of 
the adjacent parts are comparatively dry. 



218 THE TEMPERATURE CONSIDERED. 

angle where the vapours accumulate, a mean of twenty- two 
years' registration gives ninety inches as the annual quan- 
tity, whilst the fall at Venice — only sixty-five miles to the 
south-south-west — is but thirty inches. A similar relation 
exists with respect to the other mountain-chains of the 
Mediterranean, where like causes produce, at certain places, 
the fall of twice, or even a greater excess over the mean 
annual quantity, 
stability of Imperfect as the above observations must necessarily 

tempera- 
ture, be, they will be undoubtedly useful in physical geography; 

and had Pliny given us similar numbers in his ' Cyclopaedia/ 
we should have had a range of 1800 years upon which to 
discuss the questio vexata, as to an alteration of the mean 
heat on the shores of the Mediterranean. It is considered 
as absolutely shown, that little or no change of the ordinary 
temperature can have taken place in Syria during 3000 
years ; because the Israelites found the date and the vine 
flourishing in Canaan, and they exist there still. My good 
correspondent, M. Arago, insists that a trifling alteration 
of temperature would have destroyed one or the other of 
these fruit-bearing trees, since the vine will not ripen where 
the mean temperature of the year is higher than 84°, or 
the date flourish where it sinks below that degree. This 
argument would be beautiful, as appealing to Nature herself 
where instrumental means are wanting, but his numbers 
are assuredly too high, since I found the date-tree flourish- 
ing exuberantly around Tripoli, under a mean thermometer 
of 75 "35° ; and its luxuriance in the neighbourhood of 
Cairo is well known. I have no register for Cairo ; but on 
the hypothesis that the climate of Lower Egypt may be 
nearly inferred from its parallel of latitude, since there are 
but few disturbing causes acting on the atmosphere in that 
valley, it may be considered as low as 70'56°, on Sir David 
Brewster's Brewster's formula, T= 81*5 (inferred mean at the equator) 
cos. lat. No one will hesitate to admit that the date-tree 
and the vine were simultaneously cultivated in the valley 



THE TEMPERATURE CONSIDERED. 219 

of the Jordan ; but assuredly no country is more broken 
by mountain and plain. The date is not recorded as an 
eatable fruit in Scripture, nor can it be proved that ripe 
dates were gathered and wine pressed on the same spot. 

It is now impossible to say how far we might have Absence of 
agreed with the ancients, or differed from them, had they 
transmitted quantitative determinations to us, derived from 
a systematic registration and discussion of the meteorolo- 
gical facts ; and in the absence of these, it would be very 
unsafe to admit the vegetation of Italy as a natural ther- 
mometer, into rigorous argument, until we are positively 
agreed as to the identity and place of the trees adduced. 
The hypothesis, it is true, has recently been so ably treated 
by my friend, Dr. Kothman, as to be almost convincing ; Rothman. 
but the unanimous testimony of a host of classical writers, 
the aspect of various localities, the greater mildness of 
recent winters, and the harvests being now somewhat 
earlier than formerly, certainly lead to the inference that 
the south of Europe is much warmer than when Csesar 
so carefully noted the changes of season. Of course the 
meteorologist is aware, from the recent brilliant researches 
into the condition of the earth as connected with the length 
of day, that it is concluded the mean heat of the globe 
cannot have diminished as much as -j-g-o-th part of a degree 
of Fahrenheit during a period of 2000 years ; yet it cannot 
be decided how far local modifications may exercise local 
influence. Therefore, without entering into an elaborate 
discussion as to the grounds on which the above opinion 
was formed, I may at once state, that such is the impression 
left by my inquiries ; and my views were strongly corrobo- 
rated by the late Dr. Arnold, as reconciling some ancient Dr. Arnold, 
and modern statements respecting Greece. The facts ad- 
vanced by history are substantial, the objections to them 
all but mere inference : numerous tracts which were 
abundantly fertile are now almost irremediably dry and 
barren, and — whether from neglect of drainage and tillage, 






220 ANCIENT TESTIMONIES. 

or other causes — some districts which were tolerably healthy 
of old, have become so pestiferous as to be uninhabitable. 
A contrary opinion to this has been received, under the 

Apennines, assumption that by stripping the Apennines of wood, the 
degree of cold had been sensibly increased ; but a com- 
parison of recent registers with those of the Accademia del 
Cimento, proves that the temperature has scarcely varied 
from the time of Galileo, — that is, prior to the denudation 
of those mountains.* 

Ancient re- The ancients distinctly speak of effects produced by the 

TTl3.rltS 

cold of winter in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, which 
have been in later ages unknown ; and the almost insup- 
portable severity of the climate between the Euxine and 

Herodotus. Gaul is historically infamous, from the days of Herodotus 

Ovid. to those of poor Ovid, whose dismal lamentations over his 

sufferings at Tomos are well corroborated by the septem 
assurgit in ulnas, the travelling on ice recorded by Strabo, 
and the pointed assertions of other writers. Both Herodo- 

Casar. tus and Julius Caesar, however deficient in minute geogra- 
phical accuracy, agreed with regard to the very material 
and striking fact — of which there were then thousands 
of living witnesses — that the winters in Gaul were most 
rigorous, and that the rivers were at such seasons nearly all 

Columella, frozen. Columella, the agricultural writer, who nourished 
under Claudius, and is the first author who speaks of vines 
in Gaul, has this remarkable passage : ' I find that it is the 
opinion of many respectable authors, that the quality and 
state of the atmosphere have been altered in the course of 
a long series of ages ; for Saserna, in the work which he 
has left on agriculture, infers that the state of the atmo- 
sphere is changed, because certain districts, which formerly 
were incapable of producing vines and olives, on account 



* Means of ascertaining the temperature by instruments are, however, 
truly modern, for the thermometer was only reduced, by the skill of Fahren- 
heit, to a correct standard in 1724, although it had been invented 135 years 
earlier. 



ANCIENT TESTIMONIES. 221 

of the continued severity of the winter, now yield abundant 
vintages and plenty of oil, by the climate having become 
milder and warmer/ Whether this was the result of em- 
banking rivers, draining morasses, cultivation of the soil, 
extirpation of forests, or of accidental causes, we know not ; 
but it may be considered as a substantial fact. 

Our purpose, however, being to tell what can be gathered Roman 
as to any alteration in the Mediterranean climate, it may 
be as well to assume Rome as a starting-point ; and here 
we have the testimony of both naturalists and poets con- 
curring upon the sharpness of their winters. Pliny the Pliny i. 
Elder — De Natura Coeli ad Arbor es (Nat Hist, lib. xvii. 
cap. 2) — says that he who wishes well to his trees and corn 
will desire that the snows may remain long on the ground : 
' Alioqui vota arborum frugumque communia sunt, nives 
diutinas sedere/ A passage in Pliny the Younger (lib. v. Pliny it. 
ep. 6), which aided Arago in estimating a mean tempera- 
ture for Rome, shows that sometimes the bay-tree (Pro- 
fessor Martyns rendering of ' laurus *) was killed by the 
cold of Italy ; writing from his Tusculan villa, he says, 
1 The winters here are severe and cold, so that myrtles, 
olives, and those trees which require continued warmth, 
will not flourish here (aspernatur ac respuit) ; but it pro- 
duces the bay (laurus) in great perfection : yet sometimes, 
though not oftener than in Rome, they are killed by the 
severity of the seasons/ This passage is noted, though 
somewhat incorrectly, by the Hon. Daines Barrington, in 
an investigation of this question which appears in the 
Philosophical Transactions for 1768 ; and he adduces 
Elian's chapter of instructions (lib. xiv. cap. 29) how to ^Han. 
catch eels whilst the water is covered with ice, as the 
strongest proof of the Italian rivers being constantly frozen 
over : ' Now, if we may believe the concurrent accounts of 



* The Laurel of the ancients was certainly the Laurus nobilis of Linnaeus 
our bay-tree, or common laurel, being a plum — Prunus Lauro-certums. 



222 ANCIENT TESTIMONIES. 

modern travellers, it would be almost as ridiculous to advise 
a method of catching fish in the rivers of Italy, which 
depended entirely upon their being frozen over, as it would 
be to give such directions to an inhabitant of Jamaica/ 
And certainly, from the result of my local inquiries, in the 
more temperate winters now experienced, the Tiber is 
never frozen over, and when snow falls, it lies on the 
ground but for a few hours ; a duration of two days is held 
to be a rigorous visitation. 

Poetical In now summoning a poetical witness or two, we cannot 

evi ence. j^ no ^ e ^ a t ^ e opponents of this view object to the 
evidence of such authorities, and impute their expressions 
to the exaggerations of a glowing fancy. Alio wing some 
weight to the observation, it must still be admitted that 
there must have been ground for assertions as to local facts 
and customs. Would Milton have made every shepherd 
1 tell his tale/ had it not been customary to count sheep ? 
or would Gay have written Trivia without encountering 
annoyances in walking the streets of London ? There can 
be no sound reason why ' glacie currus frasnaret aquarum' 

virgii. of Virgil's application to the river Galesus, or the ' fracta 
glacie' for the matutinal immersions of the Isis-stricken 
ladies of Rome in the Tiber, should be rejected as merely 
poetical fictions, since they are collaterally corroborated. 
Now, Virgil is quoted as an authority in matters of hus- 
bandry, and he is constantly advising the farmers, through- 
out the Georgics, to guard their flocks and herds against the 
ice and snow of the winters ; advice which no native poet 

Horace. of the present time would dream of insisting upon. Horace, 
who, it must be admitted, hated residing in Rome, has 
various passages which allude to the streets of that capital 
as disagreeably impure # from snow and ice, as well as from 






* Dr. Hawkins (Medical Statistics), on the authority of ancient docu- 
ments, tells us that the mean term of life among the Romans was 30 years : 
among the easy classes in England it is 50 years. 



PROBABLE DEGREE OF CHANGE. 223 

noise and smoke. Nor must the testimony of Martial Martial. 
(lib. viii. ep. 14 & 68) be omitted, since, in advising the 
protecting of plants against wintry frosts by placing them 
in conservatories — for such must be his ' specularia/ which 
1 puros admittunt soles, et sine fsece diem' — stamps a fact 
as to climate, and also intimates an early invention in 
the arts. 

On the whole, I cannot but repeat my belief, that the Considera- 
climate of the zone described may have become somewhat evidence, 
more temperate than it was of old, from some undiscovered 
or local cause ; but both it, and the amount of its effect, are, 
in the utter absence of better data, more difficult to account 
for, than it would be to explain why the abject subjects of 
Pio Nono differ so greatly from the energetic Romans 
of the times of Scipio and Caesar. Such partial changes of 
climate are not out of record ; for in the Philosophical 
Transactions for 1766, page 230, Mr. Bowles, Director- 
general of the Mines in Spain, says, ' Eight leagues square 
of this Upper Montana (near the source of the Ebro) is the upper 

. . ... Montana. 

highest land in Spain ; the mountains rise in the atmo- 
sphere to the line of congelation ; I see snow from my 
window (at Reynosa), the 4th of August, 1766, as I am 
writing this letter. Some years ago there used to fall so 
much snow, that the people were forced to dig lines through 
it, to go to church, in the winter ; but there has fallen little 
snow since the earthquake at Lisbon, and some years none 
at all. I am persuaded it changed the climate of many 
parts of Spain ; for no man living saw, nor heard his father 
say he saw, snow fall in or about the city of Seville, until 
the year 1756/ In a word, a few days of frost constitutes 
the severest winter near the isothermal line which I pro- 
pose to mark in the mid-latitude of the space here de- 
scribed ; and snow thaws along the coast in a few hours. 
It is true that there are records of the Adriatic's having Adriatic 
been sometimes frozen over at distant intervals, and of 
prodigious falls of snow north of the assumed line of heat ; 



224 



ON THE HEALTH OF ROME. 



Deteriora- 
tion of 
climate. 



Cicero. 



Strabo. 






but occasional incidents are only exceptions to the general 
rule, and the climate must be pronounced to be generally- 
delightful and salubrious. 

The last word introduces another and a serious consi- 
deration. Whatever doubts may be thrown on a variation 
of the thermal force in these regions, there appears to be 
very little, among the native physicians, as to a gradual 
deterioration of the healthfulness of the climate : even here, 
however, I shall take the middle course, for the essence of 
a recent Italian work is to swallow every possible statement 
which favours the author's hypothesis, and reject whatever 
disagrees with it ; and even in begging the question, a cir cuius 
vitiosus damages the author's argument throughout. In his 
effort to prove the salubrity of ancient Rome, a somewhat 
triumphant citation is made from the newly-discovered 
fragments of Cicero De Republicd. Speaking of the happy 
choice which Romulus made of a site for his new city, the 
orator says, Locum delegit in regione pestilenti salubrem, 
from which it is inferred, that whatever ailed Latium, the 
air at Rome was always good. Now Strabo, a man less 
likely to be influenced by his imagination than this writer, 
assures us that the situation of the Eternal City was fixed 
by necessity, and not by choice ; and however much 
healthier it may have been than it is known now to 
be, it is impossible to note the 'regione pestilenti ' above 
quoted, the complaints of old writers, the recorded plagues, 
and the numerous temples, altars, statues, and medals to 
the honour of Apollo, Esculapius, Salus, and Hygeia, without 
entertaining strong misgivings as to its former wholesome- 
As to the Campagna around, the pestilent nature of 



ness. 



Malaria. 



the autumnal air in those days is notorious from the writings 
of Strabo, Martial, Cato, Seneca, Galen ; and, among others, 
Varro may be particularly instanced, from his having 
advised the proprietor of an unhealthy farm either to sell 
it at any price, or else to abandon it. 

In the first chapter of this work, mention was made of 



MALARIA. 225 

the pestiferous nature of the air in many places ; and other 
situations afflicted with a summer fever of such a distinctly 
remittent type as to give plain evidence of the effects of 
malaria, are pointed out. Yet the subject is of such 
frequent occurrence in treating of the Mediterranean 
climate, that it is necessary, even at the risk of repetition, 
to return to it. And in order that my opinions may obtain 
attention, I can here state, that although by a singular 
blessing — considering my continual exposure — I never was 
a day in the doctor's list while afloat, yet, from constantly 
attending to the surgeon's daily reports on the sick, 
examining into particular cases during my official visits 
to naval hospitals, and generally keeping my weather-eye 
open, I was enabled to procure such an insight into these 
matters as a careful officer ought to possess. By this 
knowledge, and a proper attention to clothing, habits, food, Duty of 
and employment, men may often be preserved from illness 
by their commander; though, when disease has actually 
made its appearance, the treatment must rest entirely with 
the doctor. Among the inquiries which ought to engage 
the attention of those who are officially placed in charge 
of many people, surely those which tend to the preservation 
of human life, and the increase of human enjoyment by 
health, may justly claim pre-eminence ; * it therefore 
follows, that while the captain's influence should be con- 



* On publishing my descriptions of Sicily and Sardinia, I appended tables 
relating to the air of all the towns and villages in those islands ; and in 
quoting the following eulogy on them from Dr. Macculloch's Essay on Malaria, 
1827, page 368, I am prompted by the hope of inciting attention to so 
important a point, and not by the personal feeling with which they cannot 
but impress me: — 'Let me only further add,' he says, 'in gratitude to a 
person without whose assistance I could not even have written what I have, 
that I am indebted to Captain Smyth for nearly the whole of that topogra- 
phical information which relates to the shores of the Mediterranean ; while 
they who may choose to abstract that portion, will see that it forms the 
greater part of the subsequent details. He is not a physician, it is true : 
yet if but one physician out of a thousand had observed as well, the entire 
geography of Malaria would not be now to write, and physic would be 
relieved from a heavy disgrace which it deservedly endures for tlii:-' neglect.' 

Q 









226 MALARIA. 

stantly employed in the adoption of preventive means, the 
surgeon should as diligently apply his knowledge of the 
curative treatment required. And as it has been admitted 
by medical men, that marsh fevers carry off or disable 
one-fifth of the dwellers along the Mediterranean shores, 
our attention to such a scourge cannot be misplaced. 
Nature of Although the effects of malaria are at last prettv well 

Malaria. 7. . i 

known to our medical corps, its mysterious nature and 
origin have never been hitherto unravelled ; and whether 
it be an atmospheric agent, whether sulphuretted or carbu- 
retted hydrogen gas, or whether it be a material or an 
aeriform substance, is still unknown. Notwithstanding it 
is notorious for infesting rice and flax grounds, morasses, 
and stagnant waters, the febrific tendencies of which are 
too well known, malaria exists independent of marshes and 
rank vegetation, in barren and apparently arid places. It 
may possibly be influenced by the drying power of the 
atmosphere, or the energy of evaporation under local 
causes, as expressed by the relation which the dew-point 
bears to the temperature of the atmosphere. The effluvia 
from marshes is presumed to indicate its presence ; but 
even where a warning smell may exist, its cause should be 
sought for, since it is as yet doubtful whether curing an efflu- 
vium of its scent also destroys its hurtful quality. Future 
discoveries may unveil the matter. 
Singular That the vagaries of malaria, as evinced in effects which 

display but little affinity with each other, are at present 
almost inscrutable, is no reason for a neglect of observation 
and inquiry. We are told of towns where one side of a 
street is infected, and the other not ; of streets in which 
some houses alone escape ; and even of barracks in which 
some divisions are healthy and others filled with sick men. 
But in these cases the anomaly is rather apparent than real ; 
it may be owing to exposure of site here, or the prevalence of 
contagious disorders there. Sometimes the miasma has been 
known to rise from its marshy bed along the nearest side of 



effects. 



MALARIA. 227 

the adjacent uplands, infecting all that it passes over, 
though becoming so rarifled and dispersed as to lose its 
malignity at the summit. Over valleys the acti@n is some- 
what different ; during the summer nights, the exhalations 
of the day are partly precipitated, and meeting those which 
for some time after sunset try to ascend, the two baneful 
gases concentrate. This is malaria of a most malignant 
type, and will be more or less pernicious according to the 
season of the year, and the predisposition of bodies exposed 
to its influence. This unseen enemy is also wafted by the 
winds to a considerable distance, contaminating the air of 
places not otherwise unhealthy, the virulence depending on 
local and aerial circumstances. As to season, it may be 
considered to prevail from the summer solstice to the 
autumnal equinox, when fevers, visceral complaints, and 
general bodily derangement, mark its presence ; and it is 
even advanced by native physicians, that at such times 
fatal epidemics among men, and epizootics among cattle, 
display, on dissection, the same appearances of inflamma- 
tory affection. The operation of malaria is not much Time of 

,,,,.,. . n i • operation. 

dreaded during day-time, since all the emanations are 
dissipated by the solar beams ; evening causes more cases of 
fever even than midnight, when the poisonous exhalation 
is completely condensed upon the soil ; and hence those 
who sleep in the upper stories of houses are less liable to 
disease, and take it in a milder form, than those whose beds 
are on the ground-floor. The time of sleep seems to be 
the moment of attack, as the debility of the body, and the 
peculiar state of the local night-air, combine to aid the 
effective reception of miasma : foulness of stomach excites 
redundant bile, and consequently lays the trap for fever, 
but the remote cause assuredly exists in some of the volatile 
bodies in the atmosphere. 

Plague, or pestilence, being but a capricious visitor to Plague, 
the Mediterranean, is only here named because its effects 
have been confounded in history with the ravages of 

Q2 



228 



MALARIA. 



malaria ; yet, should a stray reader desire my opinion on 
contagion, non-contagion, and quarantine, lie will find it 
already expressed in the United Service Journal, Nos. 49 
and 51. The misnamed plague which afflicted the Syracusan 
and Roman armies (Livy, xxv. 26), when the former, accord- 
ing to the historian, perished to a man, was the autumnal 
Malaria malaria which affects the fatal plain of the Anapus ; it was 

mistaken r r ■ > 

for plague. as deadly to the Athenians before Himilco's time, as I have 
since known it to be to some obstinate sporting English 
officers. When the French, under the luckless Yiscount 
de Lautrec, had overrun all the kingdom of Naples, except 
the capital and Gaeta, by injudiciously encamping near 
Baiae — a neighbourhood where causes of endemic fevers are 
never wanting — their army was reduced from 28,500 to 
4100 men. A melancholy retreat was the consequence ; 
Marshal de Lautrec, the Prince of Yaudemont, and many 
other persons of eminence, being among the victims. So after 
the battle of Tchesme (the Franco-Russ spelling ofChesmeh, 
i.e. spring), in 1770, when the Russians were masters of the 
Archipelago, and might therefore have chosen any port 
therein, Count Orloff, in opposition to all advice, persisted 
in making Port Naussa, in Paros, the cantonment and 
depot of his forces. And bitterly he paid for his obstinacy, 
in the death of the greater part of his soldiers and seamen, 
and the sickening of nearly all the rest; by which the 
objects of that campaign were frustrated.* 
conse- Under the colloquial term plague the cause of illness 

of such was mystified, and men's minds were so misdirected, that 
error. ^ e rea i enemy was utterly slighted till nearly the present 



* Instead of the Empress adding Tchesme to OrlofTs name, — the which 
was rather due to Lieutenant Dugdale, — she should have stamped the brute 
with Tarrakanoff as an agnomen. To show how little Orloff's disaster 
weighed with Hygeian tacticians, I will just mention that so late as the year 
1809, I served on the gi-and and powerful expedition to Walcheren, where, 
from precisely the same causes, we lost 10,000 men, inflicted thousands of 
others with pertinacious ailments, and utterly Wasted twenty millions of 
money. 



GENERAL HEALTHINESS. 229 

day. In 1812, during our occupation of Sicily, three or 
four times, and by means of as many successive parties, 
was it determined to occupy a point between Cape Rasa- 
culmo and the unhealthy village of Spadafora, in the 
telegraph line between Messina and Milazzo ; nor was the 
intention abandoned until thirty men had been destroyed 
by malaria, against which the natives had warned the 
officious staff-officer then holding his brief authority. Such 
instances are truly deplorable, especially as I can distinctly 
state that most of these places infected with malaria are 
well known to their respective neighbours, and by them 
at once pointed out to strangers. Yet I have known of 
both naval and military officers treating such admo- 
nitions with incredulity, and even contempt ; and loss 
of life, or lingering illnesses, have been the consequence. 
It is to be hoped that the hour of scepticism has passed, 
and that our authorities have begun to learn that there 
actually are pestilential spots which should be carefully 
avoided. At least, if a commander who is made acquainted Captain's 

1 responsi- 

therewith allows his want of vigilance, or contempt of bilit y- 
means, to cause a loss of life, that commander is not only 
recklessly neglectful of his duty, but is also morally guilty 
of culpable homicide. 

Still, with the exception of these scourges, the Medi- General 
terranean climate must be considered as highly salubrious ; of the 

° m J } Mediter- 

and although, from possessing a more humid atmosphere ranean. 
than is generally inferred, it may not be so good for 
pulmonary disease as medical men have supposed it to be, 
and its vicissitudes are trying to invalids, it is gratifying to 
know, by evidence which cannot be disputed, that the 
highest degree of health is enjoyed by the British fleet 
on this station. In proof of this I shall here submit a 
table which was kindly furnished to me by Sir William 
Burnett, himself formerly Physician of the Mediterranean 
fleet, and now Director-general of the Medical Department 
of the Navy. It shows the sanatory condition, from official 



230 



OFFICIAL REPORT ON HEALTH. 



Wilson's 
report. 



returns, the total number of cases of principal diseases and 
injuries, with the ratio of each per 1000 of mean strength 
for seven years, from 1830 to 1836 ; and is a tabular view 
of the clear and elaborate report on the ' Health of the 
Navy/ compiled by Dr. Wilson. 



PRINCIPAL DISEASES. 



Total 
number of 

cases in 
Seven Years. 



Annual 


Total 


ratio attacked 


died in 


per 1000 of 


Seven 


mean strength. 


Years. 


84" 


98 


2- 


42 


31-3 


54 


7-2 


12 


2-5 


13 


5-1 


105 


2-6 


3 


133 


18 


1-7 


22 


1-1 


6 


49-9 


— 


26- 


— 


71-2 


6 


222-9 


101 



Annual 

ratio died 

per 1000 of 

mean strength. 



Fevers 

Organic diseases of the \ 

brain j 

Inflammation of the > 

lungs J 

Inflammation of the ) 

liver J 

Inflammation of the ) 

digestive organs . . J 
Consumptive diseases ) 

of the lungs . . .J 
Expectoration of blood 

Dysentery 

Malignant cholera . . 
Delirium tremens . . 

Syphilis 

Gonorrhoea .... 

Ulcer 

Wounds and accidents 



4,681 
113 

1,742 

403 



285 

147 
742 
96 
64 
,771 
,451 
,969 
,415 



1-8 

•8 

r 

•2 

•2 

19 

•3 
•4 
1 



•1 

1-8 



§ 2. Winds, Weather, and other Atmo- 
spherical Phenomena. 

Nat »^ e of TT7TTHOUT attempting a set discussion upon winds- 
spheres. T » or air in action — it will not be out of place to state, 
that the recent meteorological investigations of Dove, 
Daniell, and Howard, have led to the conclusion that the 
earth is surrounded by two atmospheres, the relations of 
which to heat are different, and their states of equilibrium, 
from the unequal temperature of the sphere which they 
envelope, incompatible with each other. Hence arises 
a system of antagonist currents, gaseous evolution, and 
action and reaction from the consequent different densities 



PHENOMENA OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 231 

and temperatures ; and while they are perpetually pressing 
in opposition, the silent processes of evaporation, condensa- 
tion, and precipitation, tend to equalize the temperature, 
and govern the weather. In admiration of this develop- 
ment of design in such an imperfectly known department 
of natural knowledge, the intelligent Mr. Daniell offers his Daniell. 
humble tribute of gratitude to a beneficent Providence ; 
adding, ' By gradual but almost insensible expansions, the 
equipoised currents of the atmosphere are disturbed, the 
stormy winds arise, and the waves of the sea are lifted up ; 
and that stagnation of air and water is prevented, which 
would be fatal to animal existence. But the force which 
operates is calculated and proportioned ; the very agent 
which causes the disturbance bears with it a self-controlling 
power ; and the storm, as it vents its force, is itself setting 
the bounds of its own fury/ On this principle, it must be 
remembered that the winds, which are so sensible to us, 
are acted upon by agents on or near the earth's surface ; 
which are usually parts of minor systems of compensation 
as compared with the grand movement of the atmospheric 
ocean in which ' we live, and move, and have our being.' 

These are now the accepted premises, and from thence Remark, 
viewing the diversities and vicissitudes of weather as being 
in a degree amenable to the conformation and orographical 
mass of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, 
a few words on the subject may present, as it were, a 
working diagram of the principal mountain aspects to the 
mind's eye. 

On the west of the Mediterranean are the lofty nioun- western 
tains of the Pyrenees and Granada, with the generally 
elevated land of Spain, having obvious influence on the 
continuity of the aerial currents which flow over them; 
especially as the gigantic range of Mount Atlas is so near 
on the south, that meteorologically it may be deemed a 
continuation ; while the high summits of Majorca, Corsica, 
and Sardinia, aid the consequent action. Under so wide 



232 INFLUENCES OF MOUNTAINS. 

Central a scope, the centre of this sea presents a singular feature, 
in that the Alps and Apennines, as well as the branches of 
Hsemus and Pindus, must all be considered, de facto, to be 
parts of one and the same mountain range. The chain 
may be assumed as beginning in Calabria, whence it passes 
through Italy, crosses the states of Genoa, and sweeping 
round Piedmont and the basin of the Po, extends down 
the other side of the Adriatic, and so onwards till one 
branch terminates in the marble cliff at Cape Sunium, and 
the other in the Balkan, on the shores of the Black Sea. 
The aerial connexion is doubtless carried over the high 
lands of the Morea, which end in the abrupt steeps of 

Eastern Tsenarus. On the east side similar influences are exerted 
by the Caucasus and Taurus ranges, with Mounts Athos, 
Ida, Takhtahlu, and Lebanon ; together with the elevated 
peaks of Candia, Cyprus, and other islands of the Levant. 
Now the great bases of climature are formed by latitude 
and local elevation above the sea. The determination, 
therefore, of these two elements will go far towards answer- 
ing these questions. It is fully established that the decre- 
ment of heat increases as we rise in the atmosphere ; and that 
it augments gradually with an accelerating progression, till 
the commencement of congelation in each latitude. By a 
geometrical investigation of the difference of density pro- 
duced by the changes in the air's temperature, the gradation 
of effect is clearly traceable ; and it follows that, as the moun- 
tain-chains on each side of the Mediterranean lie between 
the latitudes of 30° and 47° north, the snow-line — or lower 
limit of perpetual congelation — can vary only from about 
11,000 to 7,000 feet — a conclusion which, though deduced 
theoretically, is found to coincide with the result of actual 
observations wherever they can be obtained. 

Result. Such being the broad feature, some of the resulting 

meteorological changes may be accounted for, or even 
determined, however remote we may yet be from a power 
of fully investigating these causes and effects. One fact, 



WATCHFULNESS IS REQUIRED. 233 

however, has accrued from inquiry — namely, that the 
temperature is more equable on the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean than further inland ; and some of the prevalent 
winds may almost be prognosticated. Still, such is their 
fickleness as concerns direction, force, change, and tempera- 
ture, that a complete cognizance of the laws which regulate 
their course might be despaired of, but for the conviction of 
there being nothing fortuitous in physics ; this, added to 
the splendid results reaped by inquiry into the equatorial 
winds, leads to a hope of our one day knowing something 
more about the differences of aerial temperature beyond 
the tropics, and whether the winds in the Mediterranean 
zone are the results only of currents thrown off from 
warmer regions, not subject to any especial law. 

Leaving these matters to time, we will proceed to state Remark, 
a few of the acknowledged facts ; from which it will be seen 
that the caution and watchfulness of the sailor are as neces- 
sary in the Mediterranean as in other seas. It is true that 
fine weather is there predominant ; but, fortunately for 
the welfare of the surrounding population, that sea is not 
quite the placid inland lake lauded by the strains of certain 
poetasters. Those who expect to find it constantly serene 
will therefore be disappointed, and, as they ought to have 
known better, will meet with no commiseration. 

The most prevalent winds in the Mediterranean are prevalent 
those which blow between west round northwards to north- 
east, as they occur with little intermission for nearly two- 
thirds of the year ; and pretty constantly so in summer. 
In February, March, and April, the south-east and south- 
west winds prevail, but their character varies greatly with 
the locality, and even their true course and velocity have 
hitherto been registered with palpable laxity; and in 
speaking of leading winds it is not unusual, instead of 
naming a rhumb, to term proceeding from Gibraltar east- 
wards, (joincj up the Mediterranean, and from the Levant 
to Gibraltar going down. In this region, although the 



234 OUTSIDE THE MEDITERRANEAN. 

general characters are not dissimilar, the winds are certainly 
more diversified in circumstance, consequence, and local 
peculiarities than in the more northern parts of Europe ; 
they may, therefore, have led to the ancient notion that 
Ancient climates — strictly, with old geographers, a tract of the earth 
definitely-bounded in latitude — were also amenable to the 
influence and power of a consequent atmospheric tempera- 
ture. As they rule so largely the navigation of the inner 
sea, I endeavoured some years ago to call the attention of 
seamen to the importance of studying their fluctuations, as 
indicated by the marine barometer. In the abstract which 
I then made from my memorandums for insertion in 
our professional work, the United Service Journal, there 
might be little perhaps that was positively new; but it 
was given out as a link in the chain of evidence to show 
the reliance which may be placed on that unerring monitor. 
The following account will therefore be, in some degree, a 
mere expansion of that essay both in style and matter : — 

winds out- Between the Capes of St. Vincent and Spartel, the 
straits, south-west winds are the most disagreeable ; a violent 
one is sure to be denoted by a depression of the quicksilver 
in the barometer. These gales were greatly dreaded in 
the late Spanish wars by inexperienced navigators, who, 
from not knowing how they came on, frequently fell into 
difficulties. They are always precursed by a long hollow 
swell, generally commence with a breeze between south 
and south-south-west, from which point it continues to 
blow for five or six hours, although the sea sets from the 
westward. It was too common for the cruizers before 
Cadiz, unaccustomed to that bight, to have their minds 
impressed with the danger of the shoals of San Lucar, 
which were then exaggerated as very alarming. Under 
' this apprehension they were induced to haul their starboard 
tacks on board, and push for the Strait of Gibraltar, whereas 
the real danger lies at the entrance of this Strait, and con- 



THE SOLANO. 235 

sists of shelves and reefs with soundings so uncertain as 
not to be depended upon at all. On the other hand, by- 
standing to the westward on the port tack at the announce- 
ment of the gale by the mercury, while the wind is from 
the southward, a gaining westerly board may be made, 
lee-way included. 

The outer harbour of Cadiz, where the allied squadrons a soiano at 

Cadiz. 

rode during the siege of that city by Marshal Victor, is 
greatly exposed to the waves thrown in by the westerly 
winds. But the hardest gale of the neighbourhood is the 
Solano, or Levanter of the Gibraltar pilots ; which, although 
it comes over the land, is so violent as to justify the Portu- 
guese proverb which makes the gravel fly before it — 
Quando con Levante chiove, las pedras muove. This wind 
is preceded by a peculiar haziness and clammy humidity, 
as if owing to a diminished atmospheric electricity; the 
air is encumbered with the cirro-strativeness of the wane- 
cloud ; and the mercury in the tube gradually sinks. Mean- 
while, parasitic clouds, as they are termed by meteoro- 
logists, cap the hills of Medina Sidonia, and the atmo- 
sphere becomes raw and bleak to the feelings. The 
apparently stationary clouds are, in fact, the result of a 
descending storm of dispersion, for instead of being sta- 
tionary on the mountains, they are formed and redissolved 
every instant ; the vapour being precipitated by the arriv- 
ing current, and dissipated in the departing one. The 
soiano now sets in from the east-south-east to the south- 
south-east, for it is not the true Levanter of Mediterranean 
seamen ; the one so named, inside the Strait, blows directly 
from the east, freshens as the sun rises, and lulls as he 
declines — being generally at the maximum about noon. 
A very notable soiano occurred on the 27th of March, 1811, 
when the Milfovd's barge, of which I was accidentally in 
charge, unable to face it even with her well-appointed 
crew, was only rescued from being driven off to sea, by 
passing astern of the Undaunted frigate, the outer ship in 



236 THE SOLANO. 

the bay, where her commander, the present Vice- Admiral 
Richard Thomas, had veered out hawsers — per signal from 
Sir Richard Keats — for us to get hold of. On the morning 

E the C Soi°ano. of tlie ^ 8t ^ tlie W presented a singular scene of tumult 
and devastation, with signals of distress flying in all parts ; 
spars and merchandize floating in every direction. It was 
found that fifty-three trading vessels were wrecked on 
the rocks and under the walls of Cadiz during the night, 
and that upwards of one hundred more were damaged — 
crews for the most part saved. Had not this gale been 
prognosticated, and in some measure provided against by 
striking lower yards and topmasts, bracing to the wind, 
freshening hawse, and getting everything snug, the conse- 
quences might have been serious to the men-of-war as well 
as to the merchantmen ; but except the sinking of four gun- 
boats inshore, and the driving of two or three vessels to 
sea, the English squadron sustained no injury. One of the 
vessels thus forced from her anchors into the offing was the 
Basilisk, a gun-brig, to which I was taking aid in the 
barge, though unable to fetch her, from the combined force 
of the wind and sea, as above described. 

St ™ ol L,. 'That the winds in the Strait of Gibraltar blow either 

Gibraltar. 

from the east or west points of the horizon (technically 
termed down or up) in general, has been immemorially 
remarked ; and the conformation of its coasts on both sides 
renders the reason palpable. Of these winds, the east is 
the worst and most violent, being often the cause of much 
inconvenience in the^bay, from its gusty flaws and eddies, 
besides its always being found raw and disagreeable on 
shore : hence, Senor Ayala, the Spanish historian of Gibral- 
tar, terms the east wind the ' Tyrant of the Straits/ and 
the west their ' Liberator/ A strong Levanter, in December, 
1796, fell heavily on the British fleet at Gibraltar, not 
only rendering them powerless spectators of Vrlleneuve's 
squadron running through the Strait to the westward in 



WITHIN THE MEDITERRANEAN. 237 

safety ; but it was also nearly fatal to the Gibraltar, 80, 

and Gulloden, 74, while the Courageux was driven from Loss of the 

. . (, Courageux. 

her anchors, and the wind increasing to a perfect hurricane, 
with a dense fog, she was forced against Ape's Hill, on the 
Barbary shore, where she was dashed to pieces, and 465 of her 
crew perished. Many remarkable gales, productive of great 
wear and tear of ground tackle, occurred while I was on the 
station, of which, perhaps, one of the most mischievous was 
that which happened early in 1822, when upwards of forty 
vessels were driven on shore, and the new mole at Rosia 
Bay — constructed at a great cost — was nearly washed away. 
In this storm many lives were lost at Leghorn, and the 
harbour and piers of Genoa were seriously damaged. 

Within the Mediterranean, the predominant breezes Weather 

withinthe 

are, as above said, from the north and west quarters, except straits. 
in the spring, when south-east and south-west ones prevail ; 
but their duration and strength are extremely uncertain 
about the period of the equinoxes, at which times the wind 
seldom changes suddenly without an accompanying fall of 
rain, or, at all events, the formation of rain-clouds ; for it 
rarely happens that the new wind is of the same degree of 
heat as the one it has superseded. Such changes are 
frequent in the spring; and the local pilots entertain a 
notion, that vernal storms which commence in the daytime 
are more violent, and of longer duration, than those which 
spring up in the night. Be this as it may, I can, from a 
long and careful practice, assure the circumspect navigator, 
that no very perilous weather is likely to assail him without 
his being sufficiently warned ; yet, as the barometer does 
not usually vary more than a few lines, even to pretty sharp 
gales, careful attention is required to mark its indications. 
It may, however, be laid down as a general rule, that when- prognoses, 
ever the mercury subsides so low as 29*40 inches, severe 
weather may be looked for ; especially if accompanied by 
dark globular clouds in masses, or when a gloomy haze 



238 USES OF THE BAROMETER. 

encumbers the sky after serenity.* So far, in fact, did 
this conviction aid me, that during the last three years of 
my commanding a ship in that sea, by attending to my 
silent monitor, and arranging accordingly, I never once had 
occasion to turn up the hands in the night : besides the 
comfort and regularity thus bestowed on the crew, those 
who have toiled in contrary and vacillating winds will 
readily estimate the confidence with which an officer is 
inspired when watches are relieved at their regular hours, 
recruited both in strength and animation, and cheerfully 
ready for whatever may betide. But the ease thus afforded 
to the people is not the only benefit of importance rendered 
by the marine barometer, for its saving to government in 
expenses of wear and tear is great ; insomuch that, in re- 
porting my arrival at Spithead, in October, 1824, to the 
h.m. ship Admiralty, I expressly said, — ' It is with great pleasure I 

Adventure. 

am able to add, that though, from the very nature of my 
mission, I have been obliged to hang on lee-shores, and 
shoals, and coasts little known, and therefore avoided by 
other navigators, this service has been effected, not only 



* Among Mediterranean prognostics worthy of being rescued from con- 
tempt, two or three may be cited : — Small clouds increasing prove that their 
weight prevents their rising in the air, and therefore denote rain ; while 
large clouds decreasing, being obviously under dissipation by solar heat, or 
winds, assure us of fine weather. Therefore, as their ragged aspect shows 
the process of condensation, the cirro-stratus and nimbus clouds invariably 
announce rain ; an uncommon twinkling of the stars denotes humidity ; a 
steadiness of the stars, and patches of haze, dryness. The rising or setting 
sun tinging the air with yellow, indicates vapour ; and the atmosphere 
assuming a reddish tint, serenity. A lunar halo, coloured near her, is sig- 
nificant of great humidity ; and a cloudless night, unaccompanied by heavy 
dew, betokens fine but sultry weather. Small masses of Cumuli, with 
detached flaky clouds, mark settled weather and warm winds ; the elegant 
cirrus shows approaching change; while Cumulo- stratus, with detached 
blackish and irregular clouds, precurse variable weather and cold winds. 
Lightning near the horizon without thunder indicates wind from the oppo- 
site quarter ; and the same from high clouds announces fine weather. The 
water in port being unusually clear, so that the bottom is seen in several 
fathoms, prognosticates the approach of a hard gale ; as does also a diapha- 
nous atmosphere. It is, however, difficult to catch the characteristics with- 
out experience in observation. 



THE COAST OF SPAIN, 239 

without the Adventure's having touched the ground, but 
without the loss of a spar or sail, or cable or anchor/ 

Proceeding up the Mediterranean by the coast of Spain, Weather on 
we find a climate which in summer is usually fine and dry, of Spain, 
with the advantage of freedom from rain and humidity — if 
that can be deemed advantageous, where a cloudless sky 
occasions scorching drought, to the injury of men, animals, 
and vegetation. In the winter, the flaws and gusts of wind 
from the mountain ranges are often furious : and this impe- 
tuosity is severely felt in the vicinity of the Pyrenees, at the 
eastern bases of which I have observed some very remark- 
able weather-worn rocky steeps. The south wind seldom 
blows on these shores, except in the winter season ; at 
which time the south-west gales, called birazones, send in 
a great sea along the coasts of Andalusia and Granada, 
where it blows dead on the shore. But a singular change 
is known to occur here ; for frequently, in arriving at the 
coast abutment called Cape San Martino, which divides 
Murcia from Valencia, a ship running free before a westerly 
wind there encounters another from the north or north-east, 
often blowing fresh. Along these shores, and especially 
those of Catalonia, the ' sea-fret/ or dense mist generated on 
the ocean, precurses the easterly winds which drive it in, 
and occasions lassitude both to animal and vegetable life. 
When this first appears, ships at anchor should look to their 
ground-tackle, and those under sail should gain an offing. 

Gales from the north-east, easterly to south -south- east, Gulf of 

Valencia. 

are teasing along the shores of Valencia and Catalonia; 
though by attention it may be foretold when they are coming 
on, sufficiently so for the adoption of precautionary mea- 
sures. Thus, for example, when, with a sluggish barometer, 
the horizon is overcast in those quarters with thick, whitish 
clouds — partaking of both cirrus and cirrostratus, and 
passing eventually to the nimbus form — it may be consi- 
dered that the wind is about to blow from those points of 
the compass : and it may be recollected, as a scale, that 



240 MELPOMENE'S GALE. 

towards the mean Mediterranean latitude the heavy summer 
clouds are from about 500 to 700 feet above the sea. The 
commencement of such a breeze is usually from the east- 
ward, and moderate, but it freshens as the wind draws round 
to the south-east, and then blows very violently, with a 
heavy sea rolling on-shore, insomuch that an embayed ship 
would find it difficult to claw off. A specimen of such a 
gale upon this coast may be given from the journal of the 
present Bear-Admiral Lovell, who was a lieutenant on 
h m ship J3 0arc i H # m. S. Melpomene, of 44 guns. This ship was 

Melpomene. 4 •' ° x 

despatched from off Toulon, in company with the Orion 
74, the Endymion frigate, and the Weazle sloop-of- 
war, in . quest of a squadron of frigates under the com- 
mand of Jerome Buonaparte, which was reported to have 
left Genoa for some Spanish port. Our force parted from 
the fleet under Lord Collingwood on the 8th of December, 
1805, and off Barcelona, on 

Sunday, the 15th, at 9 P.M., cauie on a most tremendous squall, with 
thunder, lightning, rain, and sleet; clewed all up. At about 9 15, the 
main-mast was struck by lightning ; the fluid exploded by the pumps, and 
hurt an officer (Mr. Lovell, then Badcock), and a sailor. 

Monday, the 16th, wind more moderate and steady; examined the main- 
mast, found it severely splintered in many places, particularly about the 
hoops and in the wake of the trusses, where copper had been nailed on. Stood 
towards Barcelona, in hopes of rejoining the Orion. 

Tuesday, the 17th, at 9 a.m., wind in heavy gusts from the north, which 
veered round with much fury to east-north-east, the sea rising all round us, 
and striking hard under the counter, with water-spouts and flashes of light- 
ning in every direction ; furled all the sails, and prepared for another gale ; 
at 11, a very heavy sea pooped us, stove in the dead-lights, and filled the 
cabin with water ; p.m., the wind increased to a perfect hurricane ; at 1, the 
ship was struck by lightning, and the main-mast much hurt; at 2, most 
tremendous squalls, with continued rain, thunder, and lightning ; the storm 
stay-sails blew to atoms, the ship entirely unmanagable, and whole seas 
breaking over her. The rudder head gave way, chocked the rudder, and 
secured it with the pendants. At 3*30, the main-topmast went in three 
pieces ; and at 4, both the rudder-chains gave way. At 6, a man fell from 
the fore-yard on the best bower-anchor, but was not killed. All the pumps 
obliged to be kept constantly going. 

Wednesday, the 18th, wind veering in gusts from north-east to east- 
south-east ; the quarter-boats were stove ; found the rudder gone from 
the stern-post. At 10 a.m., the carpenter reported the main -mast 
' sprung a few feet above the quarter-deck, p.m., the sea mountains high ; 



THE GULF OF LYONS. 241 

got a cable from the stern with hawsers, &c, and struck the mizen-topmast, 
but found it impossible to wear the ship. 

Thursday, the l§th, more moderate, with a heavy swell ; employed in 
making a Pakenham's rudder. Saw the Colombretes, two points on the lee 
bow, distant five leagues. Made all sail on the fore-mast, in hopes of wear- 
ing, as we were drifting bodily down on those rocky uninhabited islands. 
Finding she would not wear, anchored with a spring on the cable, in sixty 
fathoms. At midnight, tremendous squalls, with thunder, lightning, and 
rain. 

Friday, the 20th, at 1 A.M., found the ship driving, cut the cable and 
spring, set the storm stay-sails and foresail ; saw the islands west-south- 
west ; the ship would lie no higher. No chance remained of saving a single 
life, when the wind shifted in a dreadful squall, and allowed her to lie up 
south-east for forty minutes, which put us clear of danger, p.m., succeeded 
in shipping the rudder, and found, to our great joy, the ship once more 
under command. 

The coast of France forms a deep bight between the Coast of 
Pyrenees and the Alps, which from its gusty turbulence, 
even in the summer months, has been immemorially desig- 
nated the Gulf of Lyons. Here, when a breeze springs up 
in the afternoon, and freshens as the' sun goes down, it may 
be expected to blow strong at midnight. Hard gales are 
sometimes preceded by a heavy swell and surf, in character 
not unlike the rollers of the South Atlantic Ocean, though 
of inferior volume. In this notorious gulf, so proverbial for 
the treachery of sudden anemological changes, I have wea- 
thered some tough gales; and can therefore render personal 
testimony to the violence of its squalls, and the furious 
ebullition of its waters : of which recorded instances are 
numerous. In March, 1795, a French man-of-war, having French 
received rough treatment in the conflict, or rather affair, with war. 
Hotham, off Genoa, parted company from Mons. Marten, 
and falling into the Gulf of Lyons in a violent gale of wind 
from the south-east, which chopped round to west-south- 
west, was quickly dismasted, and nearly torn to pieces ; here 
she lay so utterly prostrate for six days, that, had one fallen 
in with her, she must have surrendered to any of our atten- 
dant frigates or sloops — nay, even the Fox cutter would 
then have been an annoyance. It was in this gale that we 
lost the Illustrious, a fine 74, which had received great The nius- 

trious. 
R 



242 THE GULF OF LYONS. 

damage in the recent battle in the Gulf of Genoa; for 
having struck the shore, and there being no hope of saving 
her, she was abandoned and burnt. Every seaman, will recol- 
lect that on the 22nd of May, 1798, Nelson was assailed by 
a sudden storm in this gulf, which carried away all the 

The van- Vanguard's topmasts, broke the foremast into three pieces ; 
sprung the bowsprit ; washed a man overboard, killed a 
midshipman and a seaman, and wounded several more. 
This ship, which acted her name at the Nile only two 
months afterwards, rolled and laboured so dreadfully, and 
was in such distress, that Nelson himself declared, ' the 
meanest frigate out of France would have been a very 
unwelcome guest!' And in the winter of 1808, when 
his true and tried associate, Lord Collingwood, was 

The ocean, blockading Toulon, with his flag flying on board the Ocean, 
a roomy new 98-gun ship, he was assailed by a succession 
of hard gales. In one of these gales, that noble three- 
decker was terribly crippled, and so nearly lost, that I here 
give the words of a spectator, Captain Fead, who thus wrote 
to me in August, 1845 : — 

I was standing on the Royal Sovereign's forecastle, and at the same time 
looking at the Ocean, which was then about half-a-mile on our lee bow. and 
on the starboard tack. At that moment she was struck by a very heavy sea, 
which threw her nearly on her beam-ends, so much so, that several of our 
men called out, ' The Admiral's gone down !' But in a few seconds I had 
the pleasure to see her right again. We understood afterwards, that the 
blow completely disabled her ; and that nearly all the bolts of her iron knees 
were broken. It was the most awfully terrific scene I ever beheld Lord 
Collingwood told Admiral Thornborough, a short time after, that he thought 
the top-sides were actually parting from the lower frame of the ship; and 
that the heavy guns were suspended so nearly vertical, that the effect was 
alarming. This happened in December, and we must have been about the 
middle of the Gulf of Lyons, with the wind at north-west. 

wind and One of the peculiarities of this gulf is the sudden rising 

of its waves, and their attaining a size not at all propor- 
tionate to the strength of the winds. Both their amplitude 
and elevation are greater than would be considered to 
result only from the action of the wind on the aqueous 
particles ; and their increase under a gale cannot be re- 



WEATHER OFF TOULON. 243 

garded as uniform. The absolute height of these waves, from Height of 
the trough to the crest, in severe weather, cannot be much 
less than thirty feet, even close to Provence, where Count 
Marsigli pronounced that, ' in a very violent tempest/ they 
only rose to seven feet above the natural level of the sea. 
The waves of the Mediterranean, in general gales, may be 
estimated between fourteen and eighteen feet in height, 
and are often, from want of range in some parts of the 
short seas, called c chopping/ 

Towards the close of the war, many ships of our Toulon Fleet off 
fleet were struck by the electric fluid, while cruising off g^. 
Cape Sicie ; among which those fine three-deckers, the 
Hibernia, the Ville-de-Paris, the San Josef, the Union, 
the Ocean, the Barfleuv, and the Royal George; which, 
together with several of the two-deckers, besides having 
men hurt, received very considerable damage in gear and 
spars, between 1811 and 1814. In the beginning of Sep- 
tember, 1813, Sir Edward Pellew anchored off the mouth 
of the Rhone with thirteen sail of the line, and there 
watered ; but they had to ride out a very heavy gale of 
wind, with two cables an end and topmasts struck. Of 
this blockading force, about one-half were damaged by 
lightning, and at least five ships were obliged to shift their 
topmasts. This gale commenced from the south, and sent 
in a heavy sea, but on the 10th it blew violently from the 
north, and then the water was comparatively smooth ; so 
far, therefore, it may have been considered a veering storm ; 
but though some other Mediterranean gales within my Rotatory 
experience approximate even nearer than this towards the 
rotatory theory, the subject has not yet been properly dis- 
cussed. That able and active meteorologist, Colonel Sir 
William Reid, the present Governor of Malta, is, however, 
at his post, and an extract from a letter which I received 
from him, dated Valetta, 8th of January, 1853, is satis- 
factory : — 

r2 






i; 



244 ROTATORY SYMPTOMS. 

Sir William I nave n0 * been altogether neglecting observations on the winds since I 
Reid. have been in Malta, but I am obliged to give my mind to my official duties 

almost exclusively. I shall send some of the local newspapers, to show you 
that they now report the weather daily. 

There is, doubtless, much unknown to us; but I have seen enough to 
satisfy me, that the storms here are progressive and revolving, as in corre- 
sponding latitudes elsewhere. On the 1st of February, 1851, there was a 
whirlwind storm of vast diameter, extending from Sardinia to Syria, which 
moved towards east-north-east, and, I suppose, came from Africa. 

My second work, entitled The Progress of the Development of the Law of 
Storms, is being translated into Italian, and is now half printed. When 
published, I hope we shall have many Mediterranean observers of the winds; 
but the translation is found to be extremely difficult, on account of the 
many nautical terms, and I fear it will be a year yet before it can be 
finished. 

The Rodney. In January, 1812, the Rodney, a superb new 74-gun 
ship, commanded by the present Admiral Sir E. D. King, 
on board of which I was then serving, was so torn and 
disabled by the united violence of wind and wave, that Sir 
Edward Pellew was obliged to send her to England in the 
following autumn, although thereby lessening his effective 
force in time of need. Noble, however, as this ship 
appeared on the waters, it must be admitted that she was 
one of that hastily-built batch of men-of-war sarcastically 
termed the Forty Thieves. 

I afterwards visited the gulf in very passable weather ; 
but on the 3rd of October, 1820, while standing for Mar- 

The Aid. seilles in H. M. ship Aid, the atmosphere became so very 
transparent as in itself to be of a suspicious character ; yet 
the peculiar beauty of the romantic hills before us, the 
glorious sun above, and the smooth, glistening fluid around, 
conspired to lull apprehension. But when, about three 
o'clock in the afternoon, the lieutenant of the watch entered 
the cabin with — l Sir, a light breeze is springing up ; shall 
we set top-gallant studding-sails V — I, having that moment 
looked at the barometer, and found that it had suddenly 
fallen three-tenths of an inch, with a surface still extremely 
concave, replied, ' No ; turn the hands up to shorten sail, 
and we'll get the top-gallant yards on deck V This answer 
surprised him ; but all the officers being well acquainted 



THE MISTRAL. 245 

with the reliance which, both from experience and reason, 
I placed on my marine monitor, the preparations were 
briskly executed to the desired extent, although there was 
no other discernible aspect of mischief. Scarcely, however, 
was the canvas reduced, and the ship under command with Agnif ga!o. 
close-reefed topsails, before a gust rushed so furiously upon 
us, that had we made sail instead of shortening it, the 
masts must have been carried away, if that were the least 
accident. As usual with northerly gales in this gulf, great 
numbers of birds were blown off, which, though of very 
opposite characters, were all subdued out of their several 
instincts, and laboured to find a common shelter on the 
decks. That same night we lay-to, with the sea occasionally 
making fair breaches over us ; but, from the premonition 
thus obtained, excepting a boat washed from the quarter- 
davits, a jib-boom sprung, and the weather-bulwarks stove 
in, we sustained scarcely any damage. 

Among the severe atmospheric visitations on the other- The Mistral 
wise charming shores of Languedoc and Provence, must be 
enumerated the chilly and searching northerly wind called 
the mistral or mistraou, the bize, la grippe, and one of 
les fleaux de la Provence* This wind, by which all these 
parts of France are so much visited, after getting chilled 
in passing the high Alps and their extensive snows and 
glaciers, takes its course with increasing violence towards 
the warm atmosphere of the Mediterranean, and is very 
impetuous in coming down the valley formed by the Rhone. 
Diodorus Siculus, Pliny, Strabo, and other ancient writers, 
appear to have been well aware of the properties of the 
mistral ; and it has been customary to consider it the same 
wind with the circius of Lucan, to which Augustus — ' dum 



* This wind is not only disagreeable to the human feelings, but is inju- 
rious to the young fruits and vegetables, and all trees exposed to it become 
bent : in allusion to which, the Provenyaux couplet runs — 

La Cour do Parlement, le Mistral, et la Durance, 

Sont les trois fleaux de la Provence. 






246 WEATHER AT NICE. 

Ventde in Gallia moraretur' — erected and dedicated a temple 
(Seneca, Nat. Qucest, lib. v. cap. 17) ; but there can be no 
reasonable doubt of the vent de cers — a boisterous wind 
from the heights of Cevennes, in Languedoc — having the 
better claim. The piercing cold complained of by the 
natives of the south of France, during the continuance of 
the mistral, is owing to the immediate transition from a 
high temperature to a lower one, as well as to its actual 
frigidity ; for I have myself experienced very chilling 
sensations in this part, with the thermometer at 50°. The 
winter climate of Nice is excellent, with bright skies and 

Weather at pure air ; but the spring is often unpleasant by reason of 
the great inconstancy of the weather, and the violence with 
which winds from the mountains sweep its valley or basin, 
while it is ever liable to be scourged by the mistral. 
Although to valetudinary persons, with whom a clear, dry 
atmosphere agrees, the city and its suburbs form a desir- 
able residence, there are serious drawbacks in the remark- 
able alternations of temperature, the dirt of the dwellings, 
and the offensive treatment of grounds, in consequence 
of there being little or no cattle or other stock. A Pro- 
vencal proverb is repeated as a warning against night 
promenades : — 

Que lou sol y la sereine 
Fan veni la gent mouraine. 

On the coast of Piedmont, and from thence to Tuscany, 
the summers are fine ; though the labeschades, or south- 
west gusts, drive home on the shores, load the atmosphere 
with humidity, and raise the water to a high level. The 

Ouragans. winter is ushered in by ouragans, or violent storms of 
lightning and rain, with occasional hail ; but the northerly 
winds always clear the air. 

Prognostic. The Tyrrhenian Sea is greatly agitated by south-west 
gales of wind ; and those from the westward are sometimes 
known to be on their way, by a peculiar cloud in that 
quarter, after the manner of the Harmattan, on the west 






ITALIAN SQUALLS. 247 

coast of Africa, yet not so regular or so striking. Virgil, 
though somewhat deficient in accuracy as a navigator (see 
his description of the departure of his hero from Carthage), 
has, at the opening of the fifth iEneis, marked the pro- 
gnostic of the change to a western wind with the discrimi- 
nation of an observer. Dryden, exercising his usual licence, 
gives the passage thus : — 

But soon the heavens with shadows were o'erspread ; 

A swelling cloud hung hovering o'er their head : 

Livid it looked, the threatening of a storm ; 

Then night and horror, ocean's face deform. 

The pilot, Palinurus, cried aloud, 

' What gusts of weather from that gathering cloud 

My thoughts presage!' 

In those bays which bound the ravines and valleys of Land 

J , J squalls. 

the higher grounds, the raggiature, or land squalls, are 
violent, though not of very extensive action ; for I have 
felt these descending easterly gusts in shore, though the 
breeze was fresh from south-west in the offing of the Gulf 
of Gioja, and, standing with this into the Faro of Messina, 
have there met with a steady south-east wind. The more 
notable burrasche, or mountain storms of Calabria, com- 
mence with massy clouds coursing, displacing, and effacing 
each other like oceanic waves, in rapid grandeur ; the 
tempest then rages, but its energy is soon exhausted. 

Along the whole coast, there is a time between sea and calms, 
land winds which is calm, and called by the Italian seamen 
bonaccia as being unaccompanied by danger ; but their 
more sturdy Roman predecessors designated it malaccia, 
from being a cause of detention. It commences as the 
land winds die away, and lasts till nine or ten o'clock, by 
which time the solar rays are sufficiently effective to act ; 
then the sea-breeze generally increases till about two hours 
after the sun has culminated, and at or near sunset subsides. 
During this time, the ascending current of rarified air seems 
to have a considerable effect on the clouds which it meets 
with, even on those in the zenith, sometimes changing 
cumuli into cirri with magical celerity. 



248 



CORSICA^ WEATHER. 



Kaffiche. 



The Ber- 
wick. 



The summer serenity of the Corsican waters is frequently 
disturbed by boisterous gusts called raffiche, which blow off 
the hills. Speaking generally, the mountains of the 
Mediterranean may be said to supply cool air to the valleys; 
but as these winds occasionally rush out seawards in de- 
scending blasts, necessity dictated the use of lateen, or 
triangular, sails attached to yards that can instantly be let 
go by the run, for the xebecs, polacres, feluccas, and other 
craft which coast the shores within their influence. In 
winter there are strong gales from December to March, 
which often occasion considerable damage : and the north- 
westers send in a heavy swell upon the exposed shores of 
Corsica. In January, 1797, the Berwick, of 74 guns, was 
riding in San Fiorenzo Bay, under refit, with her lower 
masts stripped of their rigging ; yet such was the force of 
the swell, that she rolled all three clean over the side. This 
unlucky vessel was captured by the French a few weeks 
afterwards, under jury-masts, and was one of the very few 
of her class won from us by the enemy during that eventful 
war : she was, however, retaken at Trafalgar, after a very 
gallant defence. 

In and around Sardinia, the most prevalent winds are 

from west-north-west to north, and from the eastward ; the 

proportion of days being for the first — which is the healthiest 

quarter — 210, and the latter 145: these maybe respectively 

Maestraie. termed the dry and the humid. The prevalent Maestrale, 

or north-west breeze, brings in a long swell from seaward ; 

and it acts with such violence over the Nurra districts, that 

the trees exposed to it are bent nearly horizontal into the 

opposite direction, and so they grow. The west wind seldom 

blows without bringing rain ; still it is always welcomed on 

the coast, on account of its favouring the arrival of the 

tunnies ; when it veers to south-west it is injurious where 

it rakes. The south wind rarely occurs but as a stormy 

winter visitor, and is annoying in the exposed bays; in 

February, 1793, when Sardinia was invaded by a French 



SARDINIAN WEATHER. 249 

force under Admiral Truguet, a gale from this quarter oc- 
casioned the loss of the Leopard, a fine 80-gun ship, with The Leo- 
several smaller vessels, in the bay of Cagliari, besides pa> 
greatly damaging the whole fleet. The gregale, or north- 
east wind, is called double-faced, from being very squally 
and inconstant, with heavy rains ; and the east wind, or 
bentw de soli (the coming of which is indicated by parasitic Bent ? de 
clouds on the mountains), is usually accompanied by very 
vivid lightning, and, from its being loaded with vapours, 
becomes extremely disagreeable after a long continuance. 
The maledetto levante, so complained of by the natives for Levante. 
its debilitating effect, is actually a south-east wind, the 
scirocco of Sicily and Italy, and the ' plumbeus auster' of 
Horace : so great are its effects in driving up the hygro- 
meter towards the damp point, that it is termed mollezza ; 
whereas the healthy and agreeable tramontana, or north 
wind, from its opposite quality is called gli secchi, or dry. 
But Sardinia has much very fine weather, and the calms of 
the summer months are harvest- times to the fishers. In 
settled seasons the imbattu, or sea-breeze, sets in about ten imbattu. 
o'clock, A.M., keeping on till about two P.M., and is exceed- 
ingly refreshing during the heat of the day; it then weakens, 
and falls calm as the sun goes down, and is succeeded in 
the evening by the rampinu, or land wind, which holds Kampinu. 
through the greater part of the night. 

The island of Sicily occupies the central station of the Sicilian 
Mediterranean sea, and may be said to enjoy the average 
means of its winds and weather. Whilst the sun is in the 
northern signs, the sky, although it seldom assumes the 
deep blue tint of the tropics, is, nevertheless, beautifully 
clear and serene ; then after the autumnal equinox, the 
winds become boisterous, and the atmosphere comparatively 
dense; the dews and fogs increase, particularly on the 
coasts, and the rain falls in frequent and heavy showers. 
In summer it is generally calm in the morning, but a sea- 
breeze springs up about nine or ten o'clock, freshens until 



250 



SICILIAN WEATHER. 



Mamatili. 



JEolian 
islands. 



Faro of 
Messina. 



Malta and 
Goza. 



two or three, and gradually subsides again into a calm 
towards evening. The winds are variable both in their force 
and direction. The most prevalent are the northerly and 
westerly, which are dry and salubrious, producing, with the 
clearest sky, the most agreeable sensations ; and a modifi- 
cation of the maestrale, called mamatili, is enjoyed by the 
Palermitans as a most refreshing sea-breeze. Those from 
the east round to southerly are heavy, and loaded with an un- 
wholesome mist, often accompanied by heavy rain, thunder, 
and lightning ; storms in which I have seen vessels struck 
by the electric fluid, and in one of these I was a witness of the 
all but destruction of Scylla castle, in the spring of 1815. 

On the north of Sicily are the iEolian isles, the fabled 
residence of the god of winds ; and whether from the heat of 
the water by volcanic springs, the steam of Vulcanella, the 
incessant hot ejections from Stromboli, or all of them 
added to the general temperature — it is certain that there 
are more frequent atmospherical changes among this group, 
than in the neighbourhood. These extend their influence 
to the Faro of Messina, but are there modified under local 
conditions. Thus when a northerly wind blows through 
the Strait, and meets a southerly one some twenty miles 
below it, or a wind from the Adriatic off Cape Spartivento, 
it is the occasion of much aerial commotion ; especially in 
the offing between Taormina and Mascali, where the weather 
is then called Del Golfo di Cantara. Another singu- 
larity of the Faro is La Lispa, a calm in the Strait, with 
masses of super-impending clouds, though blowing fresh 
outside : this continues till the next taglio di rema (See 
page 180) of the descending current, when, as soon as this 
gush of water is established, the wind bursts in with squally 
gusts and accelerating force. 

South of Sicily lie Malta and Goza, its geographical 
though not political dependants ; and although these islands 
are blessed with the steadiest climate in Europe, there are 
occasional and beneficial disturbances to its serenity. Some- 



WEATHER AT MALTA. 251 

times winds of a very boisterous character rage, accompanied 
by rains of tropical profusion ; the winters consequently were 
much dreaded by the galleys of the Order, and their op- 
ponents in Barbary were equally influenced. Under such 
induction, with all their known and acknowledged expertness 
at sea, the Maltese sailors were absolutely astonished at the 
blockade of their ports by Sir Alexander Ball, observing 
that c English ships could winter without harbours/ The 
most violent gales they experience, are those from the north- 
east, the dreaded Gregale (from Greco), which rakes the Thegregaie. 
harbours of Valetta, sends in a prodigious swell, and has 
often caused serious damage, as well on shore as among the 
shipping. The south-wester is the hottest of the summer 
breezes ; it is much disliked by the Maltese, and even in 
the spring of 1816, I saw the fields on the neighbouring 
isle of Lampedusa so burnt and parched by it, as to blight 
all hope of a harvest. From the heat imbibed by the 
calcareous surface of Malta, the sultry nights which follow 
the festa di San Lorenzo, in August, and continue till after 
the autumnal equinox, are sometimes very distressing to 
strangers, the warmth being of that oppressive degree 
termed implacable. 

But the most annoying visitor of the regions around is The sci- 

• 'ii rocco. 

the scirocco, or south-easter, a wind detested equally by the 
ancients and moderns ; being, no doubt, the evil vapour of 
Homer (Iliad v.) into which Mars retreated when wounded 
by Minerva. This debilitating breeze — the dreaded samiel 
of Egypt — sweeping over the parched deserts of Arabia 
and Africa, where the hottest summer climate in the world 
is to be found, is moderated by its passage over the sea, to 
a tolerable degree of temperature ; and on the east coast of 
Sicily, where it first arrives, its effects are inconsiderable ; 
but seeming to acquire additional heat in its progress over 
the land, becomes a serious inconvenience as it advances. 
At its commencement, the air is dense and hazy, with long 
white clouds settling a little below the summits of the 






252 THE SCIROCCO. 

indications mountains, and at sea, floating just above the horizon, in a 
scirocco. direction parallel to it : it often terminates by a rapid lull, 
which is succeeded by a north-west breeze. The thermo- 
meter does not, at first, experience any very sensible change, 
though it slowly rises with the continuance of the scirocco to 
90° and 95°, which last is the highest I have observed, 
though the feelings — which are certainly a very inaccurate 
measure of actual heat — seem to indicate a much higher 
temperature ; but the hygrometer shows increased atmo- 
spheric humidity, and the barometer gradually sinks to 
about 29*60 inches. This wind generally continues three 
or four days, during which period, such is its influence, that 
wine cannot be well fined, or meat effectually salted ; oil- 
paint laid on while it continues will seldom take or harden : 
and while from seeming dryness it rives unseasoned wood, 
and snaps harp strings, it makes metals oxydize more 
readily, mildews clothes, and renders everything clammy. 
We are told, however, that dough can be raised with half 
the usual quantity of leaven ; and though blighting in its 
general effects during summer, it has been known to favour 
the corn-harvest, and the growth of several useful herbs and 
plants in winter.* 

Scirocco at This wind is peculiarly disagreeable at Palermo, although 
situated in the north-west part of Sicily ; but the plain is 
surrounded on the land-side by mountains, which collect 
the solar rays as if to a focus. Although somewhat inured 
to the heat of the East and West Indies, and the sands of 
Arabia and Africa, I always felt, during a scirocco here, more 
incommoded by an oppressive dejection and lassitude than 
in those countries ; and it matters little to the person 
attacked, whether the sensation is attributable to the im- 
mediate parching of the skin and the absorption of his 



* Tbe Scirocco appears to be so modified by its transit across the sea, or 
else is such a contrast to the Bize ; that when it visits the shores of Provence, 
it is welcomed as a very alize Mediterranee. 



THE SCIROCCO. 253 

electricity, or to a positive increase of temperature. At 
such times the streets of Palermo are silent and deserted, for 
the natives can scarcely be prevailed upon to move out while 
it lasts, and they carefully close every window and door of 
their houses to exclude it. Still the scirocco does not appear 
to be actively prejudicial to human health, though it is said 
that, if it be of long continuance, wounds are sometimes 
attacked with erysipelatous inflammation, and it often is 
troublesome to people of a plethoric habit. It is more fre- 
quent in the spring and autumn than in the summer, and 
in winter possesses no disagreeable qualities, except to 
invalids ; many persons refuse medicine during its con- 
tinuance, but whether right or wrong, deponent knoweth 
not. Queen Caroline of Naples said, in a note to an English Queen of 

Naples. 

lady, that she had risen — en deshabille — from a marble 
floor to write, and must throw herself down again, in order 
to alleviate the oppression she felt : such was the incon- 
venience endured even by royalty — by the daughter of Maria 
Theresa — in the otherwise enchanting valley of the Conca 
d'Oro. One of our generals held a levee during a scirocco, 
and however booted and belted the smaller fry came, he 
himself exhibited the happy ease of undress : and the late 
Lord Holland, fainting under the oppressive heat, passion- Lord iioi- 
ately invoked the colder breezes, breaking forth with — 

Oh ! my soul's panting wish in mid-day dreams ! 
Oh ! native soil ! Oh ! verdure, woods, and streams, 
Where are ye? And thou, lovely Redlynch! where 
Thy grassy prospects, and thy vernal air? 
Oh ! send thy spacious waters to my aid, 
Lend me thy lofty elms' protecting shade ; 
Henceforth within thy limits let me live, 
Oh England! injured climate ! I forgive 
Thy spleen-inilicting mists. 

And, indeed, when the sultry and withering blaze of heat, the Remark, 
earthquakes, hurricanes, diseases, misery, personal insecurity, 
reptiles, mosquitoes, flies, fleas, and other major and minor 
evils are recollected, the pleasure of visiting warm climates 
is considerably alloyed. 



254 



ADRIATIC WINDS. 



Siffanto. 



Furiani. 



weather The navigation of the Adriatic is rather dangerous, except 

Adriatic, under the careful attention of a good officer, from the lia- 
bility of being caught without sea-room in extremity. The 
winds generally draw or incline up and down its length, 
seldom blowing right athwart ; during the summer months 
they are light and variable, with frequent calms* and 
occasional squalls, with the usual accompaniments from the 
northward ; these gales are, however, of short continuance. 
Winds from the south-east bring in a high sea, with fog and 
rain, but they are usually steady, and not unfrequently 
succeeded by a fresh north-west breeze. The south-wester, 
or Siffanto, is vehement, but short-lived, and often draws 
round to the south or south-east, when it is succeeded, near 
the vicinity of the Po, by the gale and sea called Furiani. 
The entrance of this sea is liable to sudden gusts, which do 
not always give warning of their approach, and when it 
continues to blow hard there, the waves are tumbling and 
confused ; subsiding, however, with the weather. Towards 
the centre of the gulf, the winds are steadier than at the 
mouth ; though at the upper part they are still more variable. 
From a comparison made by the late Sir William Hoste — 
who had much experience of this sea, and being one of those 
useful officers who both fight and write, drew up some 
excellent sailing directions for navigators — it was found that 
the ships off the Po, those before Trieste, and those in the 

Conflicting Quarnero, bad usually different winds at the same times. 
From the votive offerings of seamen in the churches of the 
— on this side — c harbourless shore of Italy/ such mutable 
weather must long have scourged the coasting traders, 
before the few places of refuge were constructed ; for Dante, 
when in the ninth bolgia of Hell, in alluding to the atro- 
cious throwing overboard of the two citizens of Fano, off 



* The air of the Adriatic in easterly breezes, as in most parts of the 
Mediterranean, has the pernicious quality of mildewing sails: seamen will 
therefore be careful to air them in north and west winds. 



THE BORA. 255 

Cattolica, says it was so managed that against the winds of Dante. 
Mount Focara, it were needless for them to offer up a vow, 
or to pray — 

Poi fara si, ch'al vento di Focara, 
Non fara lor mestier voto, ne preco. 

To prevent the mischiefs of private cupidity, the laws of 
the mediaeval times forbade merchant-vessels from putting 
to sea in the bad season ; and so late as 1569, Venice prohi- 
bited her vessels, under heavy penalties, from attempting to 
return home between the 15th of November and the 20th 

of January. But this was a great improvement in bold Aphorism 
J ... on the 

navigation, as compared with dicta of the thirteenth century, weather. 

which assigns the winter to fools only : — 

Tempo di navigare — d'April dei cominciare : 

E poi securo gire — finche vedrai finire 

Di Settembre lo mese — che l'altro a folli imprese. 

Off Croatia, and indeed generally from the Gulf of Trieste 
to the Mouths of Cattaro, the weather is notoriously un- 
stable ; calms, thunder, water-spouts, and the hot wind 
called youg by the Sclavonians, being frequent all the The youg. 
summer ; and heavy northerly blasts called Boras, the The bora. 
Sebenzanas of Dalmatia, with fogs and hard squalls during 
the winter. Nor are these variations confined to seasons. 
Obviously Bora appears to be a mere corruption of Boreas, 
though said to be derived from a Sclavonic term for furious 
tempest It is greatly dreaded in the upper part of the 
Gulf of Venice, particularly in the Canale di Maltempo, and 
other channels of the Quarnero and Quarnerolo, where it Effects of 
rushes down from the whole line of the Julian Alps with 
such irresistible fury, that not only numbers of vessels are 
sacrificed, but it ravages the shore also, being feared as 
much for the suddenness of its attack as for its violence. 
From this cause, the emporium of Fiume is nearly confined 
to a summer intercourse in trade, and the otherwise eligible 
haven of Porto R6 is useless as a government arsenal ; then 
are also districts whicli are rendered nearly uninhabitable 



256 THE BORA. 

by it. As the maritime cliffs and surfaces of those shores 
which are most exposed to the bora are well marked — for 
not a bush nor a blade of grass can grow on them — the 
local craft usually anchor opposite the parts where vege- 
tation is most abundant. 
P 7t?ebor°a f The coming on of this wind may fortunately be known 
some hours beforehand, by a dense dark cloud on the 
horizon, with light fleecy clouds above it, a rather lurid sky, 
and it is immediately preceded by a breathless, but speak- 
ing stillness. Its general source is between north and north- 
east, and its most usual continuance about fifteen or twenty 
hours, with heavy squalls, and terrible thunder, lightning, 
and raiu, at intervals : but the bora most feared, and with 
justice, is that which blows in sudden gusts for three days, 
subsides, and then resumes its former force for three days 
more. Ships caught by it generally let fly everything to 
receive the first blast; then immediately bear up to the 
southward to seek safety in any port they can fetch, or 
remain under bare poles till it is exhausted. We lost many 
prizes during the late war, by these impetuous winds acting 
on vessels, the rig of which was new to the young prize- 
masters, and even some of our cruisers, when caught un- 
awares, have been nearly thrown on their beam -ends. In 
The Flora. December, 1811, the French frigate Flora, of 44 guns and 
340 men, was surprised by a bora, on her passage from 
Trieste to Venice, which threw her on the coast near 
Chiozza, where the captain and two-thirds of her people 
perished ; in 1815, two merchantmen, which had anchored 
off the mole of Trieste with the intention of entering the 
following morning, were assailed in the night, and foun- 
The Monte dered with all hands ; and in 1820, the Monte Cuculi, a fine 

Cuculi. . 

Austrian corvette of 20 guns, was met by a bora while 
under all sail, and instantly went down, with the whole of 
her passengers and crew. 

These boras, however, as I have already hinted, give suf- 
ficient notice of their approach to an attentive observer ; 



BORA AT LISSA. 257 

although Borinos, or strong squalls, from the same quarter, 
of short duration, may sometimes be encountered without 
much barometrical indication. A very hard summer bora, Summer 
which I experienced in Lissa harbour, on the 13th of July, 
181.9, occasioned a fall in the mercury from 30-15 inches to 
2977 ; it was precursed by the usual denseness near the 
horizon, with a fresh south-east wind ; and during the two 
preceding nights — although the weather was fine — there 
was much lightning in a vast cloud-bank which had formed. 
On the third evening, this bank spread over the sky to the 
zenith, and the coruscations became incessant ; whereupon, 
as we were lying at single anchor, prepared for going to sea, 
we dropped the best bower, braced the yards to the wind, 
and took measures for the safety of our observatory, tents, 
and instruments on Hoste's Isle : these had been left to 
the eleventh hour, in order to watch a new and brilliant 
comet which was then following Capella, and standing 
towards Dubhe. In the midst of this aerial commotion, at 
about one in the morning, the gale suddenly chopped round 
from south-south-east to north-north-east, with such fury, as 
to make the ship heel over in an extraordinary degree ; and 
the cables were veered out until she was uncomfortably 
close to the marina. It was fortunate that we were in so 
excellent a port, for the sudden shift of wind must have 
done injury to any vessel under sail, however well prepared. 
In about an hour, the acme of its force somewhat abated, 
rain fell in large drops, and for two days afterwards we had 
cool breezes from the north, and clear weather. 

Shortly afterwards, we underwent another of these blasts, Loaaiii 

Piccolo. 

of which I particularly noted the advent, progress, and 
termination. On the 9 th of August of the same year, while 
moored with the stream and small bower in the perfectly 
land-locked harbour of Lossin Piccolo, the morning was sus- 
piciously cloudy, although the preceding evening had been 
remarkably clear over-head ; insomuch as to allow of my 
making some satisfactory observations in the observatory- 



258 BORA AT LOSSIN PICCOLO. 

tent, and also showing Saturn's ring to the magnates of the 
town, it having just then become again visible after its 
temporary disappearance. On the morning stated, the 
wind was in the south-west quarter, the clouds lurid, the 
atmosphere dark, and the whole celestial aspect so singular 

indications, and threatening, that, notwithstanding our apparent se- 
curity, I ordered the top-gallant yards and royal-masts on 
deck, top-gallant masts to be struck, the best bower to be 
ranged, and the sheet cable bent. In the afternoon, the 
horizon, from north-west to north, was as black as possible, 
and the gloominess of its appearance was contrasted by a 
bed of white fleecy clouds which rose immediately above it, 
and soared rapidly till they joined a series of waved distinct 
streaks overhead ; forming an immense arch from west- 
south-west to east-north-east, with a deep blue sky on each 
side. In a few minutes a strong wind had evidently arisen 
in the north-west, as it blew the clouds right and left, 
though we still felt the south-wester even stronger than in 
the morning. 

The bora The scene was now awfully grand ; masses of cloud 

were in motion from the zenith downwards, excluding by 
degrees the brassy sky, while a momentary stillness was but 
a presage of the coming storm. At this time all the 
fishermen were making for the shore, and the whole marina 
resounded with the shouts of people endeavouring to rowce 
up their vessels on the strand. At length huge drops of 
rain plashed down, and the whole atmosphere seemed to 
resolve itself into black smoke, while the north wind was 
seen approaching, by the eddies of sand which it threw up 
before it. The gust now reached the ship, roaring tremen- 
dously, with such force that both our cables were snapped 
like twine, and before we could bring up with the best 
bower and sheet anchors, veer to forty fathoms, and brace 
the yards by — which was effected with a celerity that 
delighted me — the ship was nearly thrown upon the quay. 
The rain now poured a deluge, and the apparent mill-pond 



BORA AT LOSSIN PICCOLO. 259 

of a harbour was soon covered with long rolling waves, the 
crests of which were cut off in foam. Every boat in the Effects of 
port was either swamped or capsized ; oars, rudders, and 
thwarts were floating on every side, and the vessels along 
the marina were driven one upon the other. Such a gust, 
if it had continued, must have destroyed the place ; but 
providentially, its excess of violence lasted only a few 
minutes, and in less than an hour all was restored to com- 
parative tranquillity. Among other disasters, we noticed Accident 
the destruction of a trabaccolo astern of us ; she had escaped 
the first blast with being merely thrown on the mud, but 
after she was aground, the rain falling on her cargo of 
unslacked lime occasioned her conflagration, and loss of 
sight to some of her crew. The mischief done on shore was 
much greater than that afloat : numbers of trees were torn 
up by the roots, the roofs of houses blew away like chaff, 
windows and doors were forced in, and even floors were 
displaced by the wind getting into the lower stories. 

The crews of two of our boats — the gig and cutter, 
under the charge of the able master, Mr. Elson — which Mr. Eison. 
were capsized outside the harbour at the very commence- 
ment of the bora, though within a few feet of the land, were 
obliged to lie along the ground on gaining the shore, and 
grasp the brushwood while the main force passed over them : 
the masts, oars, sails, and arms of these boats were lost, 
together with some of the surveying instruments. In the 
morning the barometer stood at 30"05, and after the rain at 
29"91 inches : this bora, though a summer one, was pro- 
nounced to be the severest which had happened in the 
memory of the ' oldest inhabitant !'* 

The Bora is much modified in the immediate vicinity of 



* Captain Cosulich, who published a portulano of this sea — a spew me 
in 1848, in speaking of the dangers of this vicinity, advises vessels not to 
venture into the Quarnero if Mount Velebich should he capped with white 
clouds; adding, ' Lo parlo per esperienza, perche nacqui Bull 1 iaola 

Lussini." 

s 2 



260 



IONIAN WEATHER. 



Curious 
incident. 



Ionian 
winds 



Cattaro and Kagusa, but between those places and Monte 
Gargano, I have experienced very fresh weather. A curious 
phenomenon occurs among the cliffs of Montenegro : in the 
midst of the most steady season of the year, in the finest 
day, of the purest atmosphere, when not a speck of cloud is 
perceptible, thunder is heard to roll with loud repercussions 
among the mountains ; and it is remarked, that at these 
times the springs of the neighbourhood gush up with 
increased force. 

In the Ionian Sea, the prevalent winter winds are from 
south-south-west to east-south-east, and those of summer 
from north to east-north-east ; but in general, among the 
islands, rarefaction commences soon after sunrise, and con- 
tinues to increase with the solar force till noon, during 
which interval there is not a breath of air in the valleys. 
About mid-day the rarefied air begins to ascend rapidly, 
and, agreeably to statics, a cooler and denser air rushes 
in to supply its place, and restore the equilibrium. Inside 
the islands the winds are variable to an extreme, insomuch 
that a ship may be seen coming in at Corfu through the 
The Corfu north channel, and another through the south, both before 
the wind ; while in mid-channel it is either calm, or the 
wind is veering to all points of the compass. That these 
are mostly mere surface currents of wind, is shown in the 
fact that the courses may be asleep while the royals are 
flapping to their masts ; and coasters often heel to the 
breeze, while the citadel flag, about 130 feet above them, 
hangs motionless on its staff. On the 2nd of August, 1818, 
after an agreeable interchange of civilities and survey- 
communications, the French corvette Chevrette, commanded 
by Captain Gauttier, and the Aid, got under weigh ; 
myself being bound into the Adriatic, arid my friend to the 
Archipelago, when we both had a fair wind ! Eddying 
breezes often blow violently from the mountains of Epirus, 
which are at times, from their force and coldness, very 
unwelcome ; and hard gales in the Corfu channel are 



channel. 



IONIAN WEATHER. 261 

occasionally preceded by a fitful roar on the waters — Warning 
(spaventosa mugghito) — which was described to me as 
really awful by Capt. Kirkness, whose packet, the Countess 
of Chichester, only escaped being wrecked in the south 
entrance by sound seamanship. Besides this mugghito, 
seamen are warned by another local phenomenon. In the 
northern part of the Corfu channel rises the steep and 
rocky Pantokrator, or Table-mountain of Salvatore, marked Saivatore. 
by a conical summit at each extremity ; these are usually 
enveloped in dense white clouds previous to the approach 
of bad weather. 

In the Gulf of Arta, the winds, when regular and not Gulf of 
stormy, follow the sun's diurnal course, commencing with 
light morning airs from the eastward, veering round 
southerly till about an hour before noon, when a fresh 
westerly wind sets in, which dies away at sunset ; and this 
is the simple fact of the 'alternating winds' so much mar- 
velled at by travellers. The Gulf of Corinth, as might be 
expected, is extremely subject to raffiche, or sudden squalls 
from the mountains, which whiten its surface with foam ; 
outside similar gusts blacken the aspect of the waters. The 
warm and disagreeable easterly wind — called Vento del 
Golfo by the Ionians — commences a little after midnight, 
and continues till nearly mid-day ; the westerly breeze sets 
in soon after noon, and lasts till nearly midnight ; but the 
Greek pilots say, that from spring to winter, however strong 
the wind may have blown during the day, it almost con- 
stantly moderates at sunset. In the winter the north-east 
winds are prevalent and strong, especially along the Rou- 
melia shore ; and their meeting with the southwesters in 
the offing, is often the cause of the commotion which affects 
the Ionian islands, where the descending winds from the 
hills are sometimes absolutely furious. The Myrmidon, wind at 
commanded by the Hon. Robert Spencer, with Sir Charles 
Penrose on board, when at anchor in Koinos bay, near 
Port Bathi in Ithaca, heeled so deeply and so repeatedly 



262 



IOXIAN WEATHER. 



Morea. 






to the blast from the mountains, that the Admiral assured 
me the wind must have been strong as a West Indian 
hurricane while it lasted. It is to be regretted that we have 
not yet arrived at an anemometer for use on sea-board ; 
for till we have such an instrument, force and direction can 
want of only be inferred. Nor is it easy to obtain accuracy at such 

exactness. 

times with respect to the course of the gales, for the air is 
wafted over the high and precipitous lands of Acarnania, 
Epirus, and the islands, each giving a direction to it ; and 
this direction naturally varies, according to the angle of 
incidence corresponding to the surfaces against which they 
strike in their progress. 

The climate of the Morea differs more with its localities 
than its area would lead one to suppose ; but the aspect of 
its mountains and valleys, with the varied exposure to sea- 
winds, accounts for the difference between the amenity of 
its maritime situations and that of the rugged mountains of 
Arcadia, where the atmosphere is more keen and cold, besides 
being occasionally very foggy. The north-east wind is clear 
and sharp, and is generally attended with fine weather; 
but at times blows with great violence, and is severely felt 
as the Gregale in Malta. 

The whole of the Ionian Sea is subject to intense 
lightning, especially in the neighbourhood of Corfu, where 
the Acroceraunian ' infames scopuli ' sufficiently prove the 
justice of that classic designation. The production of free 
electricity during the conversion of water into steam is well 
known to be rapid and abundant : in like manner, while 
the solar heat is converting into vapour the moisture of the 
earth, electricity is largely disengaged during the process. 
Slightly-liberated electricity produces lambent or phosphoric 
flames, which are unattended with danger ; but when an 
overloaded atmosphere is animated by opposite powers and 
driven by antagonistic currents, the ferment and explosion 
of the elements are exhibited in fury, and the coruscations 
of fierce fluid matter are energetic. These lightnings are of 



Electric 
agency. 



WHIRLWINDS. 263 

the kinds called sheet and forked, and when vivid are awful Lightning 
as well as beautiful ; the first, in noiseless, far-spread forms, 
momentarily illuminating every object, and then leaving 
an indescribable gloom. At times the flashes follow each 
other in such rapid succession as to appear almost incessant ; 
so that a military wag, at a mess-table at which I was 
sitting, proposed to put out the candles and dine by light- 
ning. This buffoonery would not have deserved repetition, 
but that it conveys an idea of the powerful glare which 
must have prevailed to call forth the jest. 

It is not uncommon, especially in and near the middle- Typhoons, 
latitude zone of the Mediterranean, to experience typhoons 
(tuQcqv), or whirlwinds, of which some of the most obvious 
instances that have passed under my notice are in the 
vorticular columns of sand in the deserts of north Africa. 
From such currents of air rushing through the atmosphere, 
and along the surface of the sea, with an impetuous 
spiral rotation, there very frequently result, in the warm 
months, those extraordinary phenomena somewhat inappro- 
priately named waterspouts, since they are owing to a water- 

spouts. 

commotion of rarefied air only : of these syphons I have 

frequently seen several at once, of various magnitudes, 

round the ship. In round terms, they may be described as 

trumpet-shaped cones descending from a dense cloud, with 

the small end downwards, beneath which the surface of the 

sea becomes agitated and whirled round, and the water, 

converted into vapour, ascends with a spiral impulse, till 

a junction is effected with the cone proceeding from the 

cloud ; frequently, however, they disperse before the union 

takes place, especially when the action of the winds drives 

them out of their perpendicular position. There can be 

little doubt that the Franklinian theory is substantially 

right, and that, from the vapour being evidently drawn or 

forced upwards, waterspouts are the consequence of a 

previous whirlwind ; a point cavilled at by some recent 

Lecturers. Must it not be conceded, that, from the equal 



264 WATERSPOUTS. 

Rotation is distribution of the atmosphere, it follows that no extra- 
necessary. 

ordinary movement can take place in any of its parts, 

except by means of a positive rotation ? Yet a vortex will 
not be regularly formed nor continue in action, without the 
aid of an external propelling force, and a constant discharge 
from that spiral extremity of its axis towards which the 
motion tends ; both of which conditions appear to be ful- 
filled in the object before us, although the collision of such 
masses of air may render the effect both excentric and 
brief. In addition to the operation of wind, atmospheric 
electricity and its opposite may be also found to exert 
influence ; but Dr. Franklin's argument will here suffice, 
for the upper air is rarer than at the base, and the syphon 
itself is mechanically elevated by the centrifugal effect of 

Gyrations, its own whirling motion. The gyrations in this sea are 
thought to be in accordance with the hands of a watch, but 
their revolving spirally makes this rather difficult to esta- 
blish ; and there may exist a great disparity in their 
temperature, humidity, and substance. 

From the earliest times navigators have always, and 
very naturally, entertained great apprehensions of this 

ThePrester. phenomenon, the noted Prester (npnoTrip) of the Greeks, 
the destroyer of those at sea ; of which Lucretius (lib. vi. 
v. 422, &c) gives so terrific a description. But though most 
sailors still believe it to be dreadfully dangerous, and small 
craft have been known to founder immediately on being 
struck, in most cases it would probably be productive of no 
serious injury to a vessel of any tolerable size; nor do I 
believe that a well-authenticated disaster occasioned by these 
waterspouts to a well-found man-of-war is on record. I had 
indeed been informed of the staving in of the quarter-deck of 
an 80-gun ship, the Tonnant, and of the expression of Sir 

Sir j. Gore. JohnGore, that 'for the first time in his life he was alarmed :' 
but on my asking particulars of that officer, he neither re- 
collected the accident, nor the exclamation — so uncertain is 
hear-say evidence. Yet careful seamen should avoid this 



WATERSPOUTS. 265 

phenomenon, and as it is moved in space by the prevailing 
wind, which is acting equally on the ship, it may be made to 
pass, by skilful manoeuvre. I think it improbable, however, Fr ^^^ s 
that, with sails taken in and hatches battened down, the 
consequences would be very serious to the hull, although 
from being more active aloft than below, the upper spars 
might suffer. Still I must own to having felt more com- 
fortable on board an English man-of-war than in a Sicilian 
gun-boat of paranzello rig, when in presence of these most 
curious visitors, for whose advent, agreeably to my experi- 
ence, the barometer does not prepare us. 

During the formation of a water-spout, the winds around Formation 

° . of a spout. 

are generally light and variable, with frequent whirling 
cat's-paws and calms ; but the weather heavy, with clouds 
of small dimensions and flaky, in very slow progression 
over a deep blue sky. At length one of them enlarges, 
takes a position, becomes elongated, and sends forth a 
syphon, which finally reaches and agitates the sea ; but the 
moment of contact is not readily made out, for the effect is 
manifest in the ebullition on the surface before the extre- 
mity of the spout has visibly approached it. The base of the 
column, which may be from 50 to even 100 feet in diameter 
— enclosing a smaller, more transparent, and apparently 
hollow cylinder — is first seen darkening the agitated area 
beneath it, as well as a wider circle of deep-blue water 
around ; and afterwards it discharges a volume of vapour 
upwards, with an audibly whizzing noise, into the column of 
the protuberant cloud above it — a fact of which Pliny seemed 
to be aware. The dispersion commences with the verti- 
ginous point, which becomes broken, less defined, and 
shrinking, as it were, upwards; the syphon often appear- 
ing to be suspended to the cloud for some time after- 
wards ; and though other spouts may then be forming, I 
never noticed the production of a second one from the 
same cloud. The duration is from two or three to ten 
minutes, or even Longer ; and their dispersion is fre 
quently owing to the springing up of a breeze. Such 



266 WATERSPOUTS. 

Sometimes is the most frequent line of action ; but I have also known 
formed, them to form suddenly in squally weather, on the chopping 
round of the wind, or where two winds meet ; and they are 
seen both before and after heavy rains, frequently attended 
with thunder and lightning. When they appear to be 
approaching a ship, it is not unusual to fire a gun at them, 
which, by the concussion of the air, may scatter them ; but 
where the experiment is tried at all, it should be well done, 
and I have been assured that the vibration caused by firing 
several guns in a salvo, infallibly makes the column separate 
and dissipate in heavy rain, accompanied by local lightning 
and hail. This process I never tried ; but on one occasion, 
off Maretimo, a fine columnar one of 1300 or 1400 feet in 
height being within a mile was about to be thus operated 
upon, when it suddenly passed a-head of us while we were 
gazing in admiration of the magnificent phenomenon. The 

Fresh water which falls on such an occasion is, of course, perfectly 
fresh, but so instantaneous a chemical process cannot be 
sufficiently considered. Dante, Camoens, Thomson, and 
other poets, have described this phenomenon as poets are 
wont to do ; and even Falconer, that truly nautical bard, 
gives rather a more terrific account of the dispersion of a 
water-spout than would suit the staid sobriety of prose : 

The horrid apparition still draws nigh, 
And white with foam the whirling billows fly. 
The guns were primed, the vessel northward veers, 
Till her black battery on the column bears : 
The nitre fired, and while the dreadful sound 
Convulsive shook the slumbering air around, 
The watery volume, trembling to the sky, 
Burst down a dreadful deluge from on high ! 
Th' expanding ocean trembled as it fell, 
And felt with swift recoil her surges swell ! 

Evolution of In furtherance of the cursory allusion I have made to 
tiuid. the probability of electric agency as the cause of water- 
spouts, the reader may be reminded that there is a rapid 
and profuse evolution of electric fluid in the process of 
evaporation. The presence of a surcharge of this fluid is 
established by the great frequency of noiseless sheet-lightning 



THE COMPAZANT. 26; 



imo: 
fire. 



over the surface of the waters, and also by the appearance St. Eh 
and play of that lambent flame about the mast-heads of 
ships, known to seamen as the compazant (a corruption of 
Corpo Santo). It was the Dioscuri of classic times, and 
its remarkable appearance is noticed by Caesar (De Bello 
Africano), on which occasion it settled on the points of the 
spears belonging to the fifth legion. This harmless meteor 
is also hailed in the Mediterranean with the appellation of 
the fire of Sant Elmo, or San Pietro and San Niccolo ; m 
either case under similar notions to those which inspired 
the ancients on the appearance of their Castor and Pollux, castor and 
It is a beautiful meteor which usually occurs at the close of 
squally weather, and in nights of intense darkness ; it reveals 
itself as a pale blaze of phosphoric light,* hanging on the 
trucks in the form of a sea-medusa, to a depth of two or 
three feet down the mast, with gentle scintillating flittings 
such as might be represented in shaking a large jelly. Its 
duration varies from five or six minutes to nearly a quarter 
of an hour in vigour, when it gradually dies off, and is gene- 
rally succeeded by fine weather ; nor is this so much a 
matter of marvel as the native pilots wish it to be thought, 
for if the compazant is the effect of a mild or diluted electric 



* A curious instance of this meteor occurred in my own knowledge, in 
the Pacific Ocean, when serving on board the Cornwallis frigate, in 1807. 
We were working out of the Gulf of Panama towards Acapulco, in dark, 
.squally "weather, and the log entry runs — 'Tuesday, September 29th, at 
sunset it fell calm, with such heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, as are 
seldom surpassed. The corpo-santo uncommonly vivid.' This, however, is 
not all ; for I well remember the first impression the light gave was that a 
lanthorn had been taken aloft, but increasing brilliance soon revealed its 
nature. Meantime a spirited young main-top-man shinned the royal -mast, 
to break off the spindle round which it was resting on the truck, without 
any pendant parts. On touching it, the fluid ran down his arm, and from 
him overboard, and all was instantly pitch dark: he arrived on deck rather 
terrified, as he told me, from the ' cpueer numbness' it gave him. It is not 
a little singular, that forty-five years after its occurrence, the captain of that 
ship, the present Vice-Admiral Charles James Johnston, should have told 
this anecdote to some members of my family, at his hospitable mansion near 
Dumfries, in August, 1852; adding, that its brilliance at one time was BO 
great, ' that they could see each others faces on deck.' 



268 



ST. ELMO'S FIRE. 



Ill omen. 



Helena. 



Balls of elec 
trie fire. 



fluid, it is but natural that the storm which is caused by 
the same should cease when the electricity becomes no 
longer visible in its dazzling state. These luminous appear- 
ances are esteemed ominous when a single one is seen 
fleeting down the masts ; and this must be the inauspicious 
flame pointed out by Falconer, who, both a seaman and a 
poet, thus shows it : — 

High on the masts with pale and livid rays, 
Amid the gloom portentous meteors blaze. 

Ages, however, before Falconer's time, Pliny {Nat. Hist, 
lib. ii. cap. xxxvii.) had described these lambent stars, and 
his description is thus rendered by Philemon Holland : — 

I have seene myselfe in the campe, from the soldiers sentinels in the 
night watch, the resemblance of lightning to sticke fast upon the speares and 
pikes set before the rampier. They settle also upon the crosse sail yards 
and other parts of the ship, as men do saile in the sea, making a kind of 
vocall sound, leaping to and fro, and shifting their places as birds do which 
fly from bough to bough. Dangerous they be and unlucky when they come 
one by one without a companion ; and they drown those ships on which 
they light, and threaten shipwrack, yea, and they set them on fire if haply 
they fall upon the bottome of the keele (si in carinas ima, should have been 
rendered 'in her hold'). But if they appear two and two together, they 
bring comfort with them, and foretell a prosperous course in the voiage, as 
by whose coming, they say, that dreadfull, cursed, and threatening meteor 
called Helena (the single one) is chased and driven away. And hereupon it 
is that men assigne this mighty power to Castor and Pollux, and invocate 
them at sea no lesse than gods. 

These, as well as the singular balls of electric fire some- 
times seen gliding on the surface of the sea, are classed as 
glow discharges, in contradistinction to the violent form of 
lightning called the disruptive discharge. The fire-balls 
are mischievous {see the Philosophical Transactions, 1750, 
for the Montagues case), but the compazant is deemed harm- 
less. Even now, when there are two or more, for they are 
not unfrequently at each mast-head, they are hailed with 
great pleasure both by the local and foreign seamen ; more 
especially when they remain stationary for some time, and 
then gradually disappear. So favourable a representation 
of the elegant Ariel was not lost by the master-mind of 
Shakspeare {Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2), who, recognising the 



CLIMATE OF ATTICA. 269 

then popular notions of the ' Fire Spirits' of the storm, Ariel, 
makes the active sprite say to Prospero : — 

I boarded the king's ship ; now on the beak, 
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, 
I flam'd amazement : sometimes, I'd divide, 
And burn in many places ; on the topmast, 
The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly. 

The Archipelago — or sea of seas as smatterers think its Archipe- 
name imports — is perhaps the most interesting spot in the 
world, to the eye of the poet, the artist, the scholar, and 
the accomplished tourist ; and it has really been the scene 
of such grand and heart-stirring events, that even denying 
its inherent claims to regard as the cradle of genius, taste, 
philosophy, and the arts, it is hardly possible to eschew 
enthusiasm when writing upon it. The duty, however, of 
a sailor is merely to treat of it as regarding navigation and 
climate ; and though that restriction will be adhered to, as 
far as mere classical recollections are concerned, an occa- 
sional reference to the early mariners and meteorologists 
must be made. 

The climate of Attica, the diadem of Greece, is in Attica, 
general dry and serene ; during the summer months the 
prevalent winds from north-east to east-north-east, rarely 
blow hard for more than two or three days ; and from thence 
to the winter, nothing can surpass the delicious temperature 
of favourable seasons. Here the east wind (amvikiwrw) so 
detested on other shores, is esteemed brisk, pleasant, and 
refreshing, both to animal and vegetable life. In the winter 
the weather may sometimes be sharp, but the severe 
Boeotian winters of Hesiod, and the ice — ^uaraKkos — of 
Thucydides (lib. 3 § 4, Platcea) are not common in that 
latitude of late, since the thermometer rarely descends to 
the freezing point. The air of Attica was always esteemed 
the purest in Greece, and is still the best ; and such is its 
extreme dryness, that Sig. Lusieri, Lord Elgin's artist — 
whose house was on the site of the Prytaneum — told me 
that he could leave a sheet of paper on the open ground all 



270 



ETESIAN WINDS. 



night, and write or draw upon it on the following morning. 
This freedom from atmospheric moisture has, no doubt, 
greatly contributed to the admirable preservation of the 
Athenian structures. Such is the climate of the country 
before us ; but the neighbouring iEgean sea is broken by so 
many headlands and isles, that its air is less genial, being 
liable to sudden squalls, accompanied by rain, thunder, 
lightning, and hail. 

Etesife. In settled weather, the customary Etesian gales, or mel- 

tem (calm weather) of the Turks, predominate ; they blow 
from the north-east nearly through the summer months, 
though their constancy is considered certain only for forty 
days. Being equally dry and wholesome, they attemper the 
general atmosphere, and relieve the crassitude of the air in 
the valleys. The name of these winds is derived from sros-, 
year, as they occur annually about the same season, and 
though from custom it is principally understood to mean the 
Hellespontic, or north-east wind of the Archipelago, it is 
not strictly confined to any particular direction, but is fre- 
quently applied to such as blow at stated seasons from any 
point of the compass. The true Etesise (sTr,<rioii avpai, i. e. 
annual breezes), however, commence about the middle of 
July, rising at 9 a. m., and continuing during the day-time 
only. The direction of this current of air is from north- 
east to south-west ; and it is probably caused by the rare- 
faction of the atmosphere nearly under the tropic of Cancer, 

Supposed in consequence of the solar heat at that season. From 
the g Etesia?. Aristotle and Theophrastus down to Des Cartes and others 
still more recent, a theory has obtained which amounts to 
the same thing, namely, that the Etesise derive their origin 
from the melting of the snows and ice of the polar regions, 
and the consequent southerly elemental rush ; assigning as 
a reason for their blowing strongest in the day, that the 
snow ceases to melt in the cold of the night. But there is 
no end of the names by which these winds have been 
known : from intermitting at night and rising with the 



ETESIAN WINDS. 271 

sun, they were called venti delicati, and venti somnicu- 
lares ; yet none of them blow exactly from the north. 
Pliny has pretty well described these breezes, and their Pliny's 
prodromi (forerunners), the light north-east airs by which 
they are for eight or ten days preceded : but his speculation 
thereupon is rather amusing. ' The sun's heat/ he ob- 
serves, ' being redoubled by that of Sirius, is thought to be 
attenuated by the Etesise, and no winds are more constant, 
nor keep their times better/ Cicero remarks, that they Cicero, 
moderate the violent heat of the weather during the dog- 
days ; and he has been confirmed in the present day by 
Baron Theotoki, of Corfu. But it should be observed, that Theotoki. 
in the Gulf of Egina the north-east winds are extremely 
sultry to the feelings ; although in the month of July, I 
found the range of the thermometer during the day was 
but between 75° and 86° of Fahrenheit. Here the land- 
breeze generally begins in the evening, and continues till 
near seven o'clock on the following morning, when it fre- 
quently falls calm till eleven or twelve, and is then suc- 
ceeded by the sea-breeze. 

The north-east and north-west winds blowing almost Monsoons of 

. . . 1 . the Levant. 

constantly during the summer, may — sic parvis componere 
magna solebam — be termed the monsoons of the Levant, 
and to them the Grecian coast owes many of its advantages 
both of climate and intercourse. With every due respect 
to the sagacity of the ancients, the cause may be thus ap- 
proached. When the sun, on advancing towards the north, 
has begun to rarify the atmosphere of southern Europe, the 
general Etesise of spring commence in the Mediterranean 
sea ; these, as was recorded by the elder meteorologists, 
blow in Italy during the months of March and April, and 
were called by the Romans favonii. Their influence is at Favonii. 
first but slightly felt, but so soon as the earth becomes con- 
siderably warmer than the sea, the current of air advances 
towards the land, and produces the western breezes. In the 
autumn, the winds alter to variable, sometimes blowing from 



272 WINDS IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 

Alternating the sea towards the coast, and at other times in a contrary 

winds. . 

direction, from the sudden alteration in the temperature of 
the two elements ; for as the sun regularly declines towards 
the equinoctial, the earth, both on the continent of Europe 
to the northward, and that of Africa to the southward, 
gradually cools again, subject for some time to slight varia- 
tions, either on the land or water, which must necessarily 
produce changeable winds in the Mediterranean, until some 
weeks after the autumnal equinox. In round terms, we 
may say for the Archipelago, that north-westerly breezes 
often usher in fine weather, and are extensively favourable 
in cooling the air, and dissipating unwholesome moisture ; 
while the contrary may be expected from opposite quarters. 
The spring winds of record are those which blow in the 
first days of March, and which, from periodically bringing 

Ornithii. flights of birds of passage, were termed the Omithii ; 
whence, when the Boeotian in Aristophanes is enumerating 
the daws, ducks, and coots he has brought to Athens for 
sale, Dicaepolis exclaims — ' Why, you come to market driv- 
ing all before you, like the bird-storm I' 

The regular north-easter, or far-famed Etesian wind, is 

venti stati. one of the Venti Stati of Bacon's Historia Ventorum, by 
which he means ' stayed winds/ or such as do not blow 
alike in Egypt, Greece, and Italy. This wind was thought 
by the Greeks to draw clouds to it — ccecias nubes ad se 
trahere, whence their proverb compared it to usurers, who 
by laying out money do swallow it up (idem. Qualitates et 
Potestates Ventorum, § 32). From the descending, rising, 

Bacon's a nd progressive motions of clouds, Bacon derived his curious 

metaphor. . 

but correct dancing metaphor — cum enim (the winds) 
choreas ducant, ordinem saltationis nosse jucundum 
fuerit (idem. Topica particularia, § 18). The Etesian 
winds bear the vapours of the Mediterranean into the 
Sahara Desert, and are there dissipated ; but the south- 
westers are arrested by the Alps and the Apennines, and 
robbed of their contents. 



INDICATIONS OF WIND. 273 

A northerly wind suddenly blowing on a summer's day, 
is held by the Greek boatmen to presage a fine night; 
whilst on the other hand, as gales in that season are some- 
times preceded by a dead and glassy calm, the mariner is 
warned. Thus in the storm of August, 480 years B. c, 
which wrecked nearly 500 of the ships of Xerxes, and was Fleet of 
otherwise so disastrous to him, we learn that the sea and 
sky were previously serene ; but when the furious levanter 
(apeliotes) came on, his fleet were on a dead and iron-bound 
lee shore, which would be as trying to laden trans- 
ports at present as it was to his crowded vessels, although 
navigation was then so imperfect, that Euripides gave, as an 
expressive figure — c The Oar, the sovereign of the Seas !' 
About the time of the solstices, or longest and shortest 
days, the south-east and south-west winds blow with great 
force ; but the brumal northers are still more dreaded, since Northers, 
they are often accompanied with storms of hail, sleet, and 
snow, insomuch that the navigation amongst so many islands 
becomes extremely dangerous to a stranger. During one of 
these occurrences, in the year 1771, a Russian three-decker, Disasters, 
of the noted Orloff's fleet, was driven from her anchorage at 
Tsara, and thrown upon the Kalogero rocks, where every 
man perished ; a Turkish 64-gun ship shared a similar fate 
a few years afterwards, and the disasters to smaller vessels 
in the north wind are both numerous and distressing. This 
same tramontanes, or north wind, is a deviation of the Tramon- 
Etesiae, sometimes blowing with great violence even in 
the summer months ; and though generally held to be an 
auspicious harbinger of a change for the better, it is mostly 
cold and injurious to vegetation, obscuring the horizon to a 
remarkable degree. After its continuance for only a few 
hours, the mountain summits of Albania and Greece are 
covered with snow : and the clearing off of the clouds ren- 
dering this visible, with strong solar beams and large blue 
patches appearing in the sky, indicate the moderating of the 
tramontane,, — 

T 



274 



WINTER IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 



Winter in 
the Archi- 
pelago. 



Though the bold seaman's firmer soul 

Views uuappall'd the billowy mountains roll, 

Yet still along the murky sky, 

Anxious he throws th' inquiring eye, 

If haply through the gloom that round him low'rs, 

Shoots one refulgent ray, prelude of happy hours. 

Winter in general is a trying time to the navigator ; for 
the Archipelago is liable to violent gusts of wind, nearly 
equal to those of a hurricane, though, fortunately for all 
concerned, more transient. They are perhaps the same 
formerly dreaded under the name of Schiron : these are not 
only preceded by an agitated barometer, but often afford a 
timely warning of their approach by dense lowering clouds, 
vivid lightning, and crashing peals of thunder. Yet although 
forewarned, the mariner cannot always reap the full advan- 
tage of pre-monition in such a hampered sea, for ships are 
too often caught where the exercise of nautical skill is para- 
lyzed by their peculiar position. It was thus that the 
Phoenix, a frigate of 36 guns, ably commanded by the 
late Admiral C. J. Austin, was totally wrecked on the shores 
of Tchesme Bay, in February, 1816, the wind for the time 
blowing a perfect hurricane. The ship's company were all 
saved : but in another such storm, on the 9th of January, 
1826, the loss of life was more severe. It appears that the 
Revenge 74, bearing the flag of Sir H. B. Neale, the (7am- 
h. m. sioop brian frigate, and the Alqerine sloop of war, weighed 

Algerine. 

from Garden Bay, at Hydra, at 5h. 30m. P. M. on that day, 
with light southerly winds. About three hours afterwards, 
a gale suddenly arose, after much painfully bright lightning 
to windward. The ships were standing towards Cape 
Colonna ; but at ten the Revenge lowered her topsails to 
reef them, when, in a furious squall from south-south-west, 
she carried away her fore and cross-jack yards, split every 
sail, and was nearly driving on shore. This blast was 
fatal to the poor Algerine, for at that very moment she 
must have been overpowered by the elements, and foun- 



h. m. s. 

Phoenix. 



WINTER IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 275 

dered : nor were Commander Wemyss, the officers, the crew, 
or a vestige of the vessel, ever heard of after. 

The south wind, even in summer, is also disagreeable 
on account of the sudden changes to which it is notoriously 
liable ; and still deserves the description of pollens fulmi- 
nibus given by the ancients, for it is potent in thunder and 
lightning, though, as recorded by Sophocles, of short dura- 
tion. I was myself once off Milo, standing for Attica with 
a leading southerly breeze and fine weather, when unex- 
pectedly the wind shifted smack to the northward in a heavy a sudden 
squall, by which the sea was thrown into an up-and-down 
agitation, the crests of the old waves being cast over us 
in foaming spray. As this subsided, the wind with us still 
at north, a vessel was seen in the east, descending the 
Archipelago before a brisk easterly breeze. Such baffling 
instability often keeps the mariner's nerves on the full 
stretch, and besides the losses, close shaves and touch- 
and-go incidents are every-day matters hereabouts. Cap- Captain 
tain John Stewart, of the Sea-Horse frigate, another of rule, 
those useful sailors who could both write and fight, drew 
up some excellent directions for the navigation of this sea, 
which have long been in use. This gallant and regretted 
officer made it a general rule, while cruising in the ' Arches' 
during the unsettled months, to anchor under the lee of 
any land when the winds were from the north, since they 
usually subside so gradually as to afford sufficient time to 
weigh ; whereas those from the southward, by yawing in all 
directions, or chopping about at once, are not to be trusted 
with ground- tackle. 

We have sufficient evidence that the ancients dreaded stormy 

i • ji a i • i i i season. 

the stormy season m the Archipelago, and were the proto- 
types of the Venetians in legislating thereon. It is from 
their records that the difference between this sea and all 
others has been known for so many ages ; and though the an- 
cients do not seem to have understood how much the changes 
of weather are affected by the sun's place in the ecliptic, 

T 2 



276 



WEATHER INDICATIONS. 



Laws for they took note of the perennial winds. Some of their laws 
were expressly designed to curtail such litigations as im- 
peded commerce ; and since merchant ships kept the sea 
only between the months munychion and boedromion 
(from the beginning of April to the end of September), all 
such causes were but to be heard during the time those 
vessels were in port. Corinth was then the emporium of 
Greece, and the mart of Asia and Europe ; the merchandise 
' of Italy, Sicily, and all that was known of the western 
world, was brought up the Gulf of Corinth to Lechseum, on 
the north side of the isthmus ; and that from the iEgean 
islands, Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Egypt, and Lybia, to the 
port of Cenchrea? on the south. In the coasting voyages 
of those times, Corinth necessarily became the centre of 
trade ; the circumnavigation of the Peloponnesus was con- 
sidered both tedious and uncertain ; and mariners were so 
little inclined to brave the stormy sea between Crete and 
Laconia, that a proverb was current, saying that the man 
who doubled Cape Malea ' should forget all he held dearest 
in the world.' A notion was entertained that the rising of the 
star Capella was inauspicious to seamen ; and its two depen- 
dants, £ and n, Bootis — the"Etpt<poi,Ha3di — were emphatically 
styled the horrida et insana sydera. Arcturus — of uqurov 
and ovpoi (Bears tail) — was also noted by the early seamen 
for its ungenial influence ; and among other prepossessions 
against it, we learn from Demosthenes that a sum of money 

Bottomry, was lent at Athens on bottomry, upon a vessel going to the 
Thracian Chersonese (Krim Tartary) and back, at 22J- per 
cent, on the voyage out and home ; but unless they returned 
before the rising of Arcturus, 30 per cent, was to be paid. 
A meteorologist has recently insisted that this star has still 
a malign influence on the weather, and he quotes Gadbury 
in proof of the assertion ; but the authority of John Gad- 
bury, and the value of the conclusion, deserve exactly the 
same degree of respect. Nevertheless, the season of its 
rising may support the old prejudice without a reference to 



WEATHER INDICATIONS. 277 

astrology ; for it is pretty certain, that if a long double Prognostics, 
stratum of clouds appears just above the horizon at that 
time, a gale may be expected. Modern seamen may rest 
assured, that a rising sea, attended by a sinking of the 
mercury in the tube, is an infallible prognostic of a storm. 

Some of the Greeks of the present day affect to be 
wonderfully weather-wise, and give all sorts of gratuitous 
advice about arrivals, departures, anchorages, and all that. 
But although navigation took its rise in the Mediterranean, Greek 
it is there, even now, in comparative infancy ; and from its prac lces 
climate, and the ignorance of its seamen, is likely long to 
remain the theatre of well-inclined but mere fine-weather 
sailors. On the appearance of foul winds they seek shelter 
under the lee of some headland or island, or bear up for 
the nearest port — with too great a deference for the 
elements to think of contending against them. They study 
omens of all descriptions, of which I procured a rich assort- 
ment from Kampse, a Greek pilot who served me for 
upwards of three years, and was well versed in such matters. 
Among the best-established tokens is that derived from the 
first appearance of the egg-plant (solanum rnelongena), Egg-piant. 
which is believed by the native seamen to be constantly 
followed by a north-easter of some continuance ; and 
therefore ships bound for the Black Sea sail before this 
harbinger of foul wind makes its appearance. This, at 
least, indicates the time of the apprehended change. 

In summing up this brief sketch of the iEgean winds, The winds, 
it may assist our inquiry to give the more ancient notions on 
this subject. Homer only mentions the four cardinal winds 
expressly— viz., BOPEA2, ETPO^, NOTO^, ZE<I>rP02— 
though intermediate ones are inferred : but it must be con- 
fessed that the early notions are not clearly expressed, for 
even the Iliad and the Odyssey are at variance respecting 
the properties of the gentle Zephyros, while the troublous 
Euros is sometimes represented as serene, and Achilles is 
made to invoke Boreas at the funeral pile of Patroclus. 



278 



TOWER OF THE WINDS. 



Cardinal Aristotle, Timosthenes, and others, enlarge ' the rose of 
winds \ but the exact gradation between the above- 
named points, and the twenty-four of Vitruvius, cannot 
easily be attained. Fortunately, however, the tower erected 

Andronicus by the astronomical architect, Andronicus Cyrrhesthes, at 
yrr es es. ^.^ens, k as survived the storms and revolutions of many 
ages, and not only gives us the eight points of the compass 
then recognised, but also the reputed quality of the winds 
from those quarters in the meridian* of Attica, by express 
symbols. Now, as the same meteorological causes must 
have operated through all time, this interesting structure 
affords an admirable record of ancient observations ; and it 
proves that more than 2000 years ago the characteristics 
were the same as at present. Indeed, simple but accurate 
and close observation carried the ancients much further on 
the road to truth than some moderns admit. Having 
studied Vitruvius (lib. i., cap. 6), Stuart and Revett, 
Choiseul Gouffier, and many other authorities on this head, 
one of my first visits in Athens, with Signor Lusieri, was 
to this temple ; with which I was delighted, notwithstand- 

Tekkiyen. ing its having been degraded to a tekkiyeh, or chapel for 
the dances and frenzies of the howling dervishes. 

The Tower of the Winds is an octangular marble edifice, 
which, in 1820, was in very tolerable preservation, being 
entire, with the exception of the moveable brazen triton 
which surmounted it, and pointed with a wand to the 
quarter from which the wind was blowing. On the upper 
story of each side of the tower is excellently sculptured a 
large winged figure in relief ; those which represent cold 
weather are mature old men, fall-clothed and bearded, in 



Brazen 
triton 



* As the east dial is only the west dial reversed, and as the noon-day 
line in the south dial is perpendicular to the correspondent hour lines, it is 
evident that Andronicus sought the true meridian. From inference, this 
was probably 150 years B.C. ; but the silence of Pausanias is unfavourable 
to the supposition. This author has, however, carefully recorded an altar 
of the "Winds near Sicyon (Lib. ii., Corinthiacs, cap. xii.), with four caves 
(toQpovg) or pits, for the purpose of assuaging storms. 



TOWER OF THE WINDS. 279 

a style which the Athenians chose to call barbarian ; and Seasons 
the milder winds are personated by youthful figures, more 
lightly clad. Above them their names appear in uncial 
characters ; and they are divided below by a cornice from 
large dials constructed and accommodated for each face ; 
those for the verticals of the cardinal points being regular, 
and their intermediates declining. It appears truly admir- 
able for its object as an indicator of weather and time to 
the Athenians, though, from its proximity to the Acropolis, 
it was badly placed for the vane-triton's showing the true 
line of all the winds, since it could not be free from eddies. 
Over the door appears Schiron, the representative of north- Schiron. 
west winds ; he is robust and bearded, with warm robes 
and boots, and, though mostly a dry wind, to show that he 
occasionally brings rain, he is scattering water from a vase. 
Zephyros, the soft and benign western breeze, is a lightly-clad, zephyros. 
bare-legged youth, gliding slowly along with a pleasing coun- 
tenance, and bearing flowers and blossoms somewhat signifi- 
cant of Zcoriv (pe'pw (I bring life), in allusion to his genial in- 
fluence in gardens. Boreas, the impersonation of the fierce and Boreas, 
piercing north wind, is a bearded old man, warmly clothed, 
but without a water-vase ; and he is so much affected with 
cold, that he guards his nose and mouth with his mantle — 
an action which has been mistaken for blowing the flabra, 
or wreathed conch-shell. Kaikias, or the north-east wind, Kaikias. 
which in winter is the coldest in Attica, is represented as 
an elderly man spilling olives off a charger, to denote his 
being unfavourable to the fruits of the earth, and especially 
to olives, with which the plain of Athens abounds : Stuart, 
however, insists that instead of fruit he is holding hailstones 
in a shield. Apeliotes, who represents the east wind, is a Apciiotes. 
handsome youth, indicating gentle motion, and bearing 
various fruits in his mantle, together with a honeycomb 
and wheat -ears, in token of his being favourable to orchards. 
Eurus, the south-east wind, so often accompanied by tern- Eurus. 
pestuous weather, is represented as a morose old fellow, 



280 WEATHER IN THE BLACK SEA. 

nearly naked, the agitation of whose drapery implies occa- 

Libs. sional violence. Libs, the south-west wind and the traversia 

of the Peirasus, a robust, stern-looking man, bearing the 
aplustre of a ship, which he seems to push before him. 
The Komans, who usually copied the Greeks, gave dusky 
pinions to Libs, in allusion to its changeful energies, being 
by turns hot, cold, dry, rainy, serene, and stormy, insomuch 
that it was reckoned unfavourable for ships to sail from the 
Athenian ports while the weather hung in the south-west. 

Notos. Notos, the south wind, has a sickly aspect and clouded 
head, significant of unwholesome heat and dampness ; and 
he is emptying a water-jar, as the dispenser of heavy 
showers in sultry weather. On the whole, these weather 
influences agree remarkably well with those of the same 
winds for our own climate. 

weather in The winds of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus are, as 
neis. might be inferred from the land which forms their channels, 
what are termed up and down, that is north-east and south- 
west ; but sometimes the northerly squalls are troublesome. 
The weather, however, is mostly delightful, the heat being 
softened by that silvery mist which blends the features of 
landscape without concealing them ; and in sailing up the 
Propontis towards Constantinople, prospects of singular and 
varying beauty open upon the eye of the navigator. But 
in truth there are very thick and damp fogs at times. 

Black Sea From the inexperience of the early navigators, and its 

then alarming distance from their homes, the Black Sea 
was thus named as expressive of the Cimmerian darkness 
of its fogs and tempests. But under the Eu^^ig^qs which 
flatters the evil genii, and still makes the utterance of the 
word death a rudeness, the Black Sea was soothingly dubbed 
the Euxine (favourable to strangers), although notoriously 
treacherous and unsafe — ' Quern tenet Euxini mendax 
cognomine littus/ Modern commerce has changed all this ; 
for though there are sometimes mists of a density sufficient 
to alarm a Greek sailor, hard storms are rare, and, when 



terrors. 



WEATHER IN THE SEA OF AZOF. 281 

they do occur, seldom last more than twelve hours without Mists, 
considerable abatement. During the summer, north winds 
prevail, and south in the beginning of autumn and spring. 
Major-General Monteith told me, that at Kalla and Poli, on 
the east coast of the Black Sea, the hardest gales are almost 
invariably from the west, throwing up a rise of four feet in 
the waters along the shores of Mingrelia, and at the same 
time causing the rivers to overflow their banks on the low 
grounds of that neighbourhood. Shortly before his arrival 
there, a Russian transport was driven on shore in a black 
fog, and sixty lives lost.* 

Dr. E. D. Clarke tells us that during violent east-winds East wind 
in the Sea of Azof, the water retires in so remarkable a r 6k. 
manner, that the people of Taganrok were able to en°ect a 
passage on dry land to the opposite coast ; a distance of 
nearly fourteen miles. And he adds, l but when the wind 
changes, which it sometimes does very suddenly, the waters 
return with such rapidity to their wonted bed, that many 
lives are lost. In this manner also, small vessels are 
stranded. We saw the wrecks of two which had cast 
anchor in good soundings near the coast, but were unex- 
pectedly swamped on the sands. The east wind often sets 
in with great vehemence, and continues for several weeks. 
They have also frequent gales from the west ; but very 
rarely a wind due north, and hardly ever an instance in 
which it blows from the south. This last circumstance has 
been attributed to the mountainous ridge of the Caucasus, Clarke's 
which intercepts the wind from that quarter.' (Travels, 
part i. chapter xiv.) That accomplished traveller, in 
allusion to the 21st verse of the fourteenth chapter of 
Exodus, pronounces this to be a phenomenon ' which offers 
a very forcible proof of the veracity of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures.' But such comparisons may do more harm than 



* For General fcfonteith's experiment at Kalla, to determine the height 
of the Black Sea, vide p. 153. 



282 



LEVANT WEATHER. 



Variable 
weather 
in the 
Levant. 



"Weather at 
Cyprus. 



good : the dry land here is not occasioned by a miracle, for 
in this instance the sea was not a wall on the right and on 
the left, nor was there a pillar of fire by night and cloud 
by day. The doctor, therefore, must merely have intended it 
as an illustration, not as a proof of the words of Moses. 

In the Levant, the temperature of the atmosphere is 
more variable than that of most other parts of the Medi- 
terranean, as it alters considerably with each fluctuation of 
the wind : yet along these eastern shores, in common with 
the neighbouring regions, the imbatto, or regular land and 
sea breeze, prevails in the absence of stronger winds. But 
at some distance from land these periodical breezes are felt 
only within a small compass ; and, as in the cases already 
mentioned, it is not uncommon for vessels to sail by each 
other in different atmospheric currents. Thus I once 
passed within hail of a ship on the opposite course, yet both 
of us with flowing sheets before the wind ! This sea, as 
indeed in a degree are all others, is the grand means of 
softening the temperature of the air ; whence every cold 
and raw gale becomes much milder by passing over it, and 
hot breezes are reduced to a refreshing temperature by the 
same process. 

The island of Cyprus affords an epitome of the usual 
Levantine weather, as the action of the breezes is confined 
to a comparatively circumscribed space. In the general 
progress of its seasons, the heats increase as the summer 
advances, and would be altogether insupportable were it not 
for the cooling imbatto, which begins to blow at 8 A.M. the 
first day of the season, increases as the sun advances till noon, 
when it gradually declines, and at 3 P.M. entirely ceases. No- 
thing is more easy to comprehend than the cause and course 
of this wind : between 8 and 10 A.M. the land is sufficiently 
heated to rarify the atmosphere over it greatly, — the cool 
air upon the sea consequently expands and forms a strong 
current to the land. Towards sunset, the sea being thus 
heated, something like an equilibrium takes place. About 



LEVANT WEATHER. 283 

an hour after sunset, the imbatto generally dies away : an Cyprus im- 
almost dead calm ensues, and at about 1 or 2 A.M. a light 
air springs up from the land, which continues for about 
an hour after sunrise. But before these winds terminate 
for the season, they become extremely violent. This im- 
batto is considered as a sea breeze on the north-west of 
Cyprus, and a land one on the south-east. The falling of 
the wind is usually succeeded by moisture, which renders 
the air somewhat heavy ; but it is dissipated in the evening 
by a breeze springing up daily at that time. In summer 
this wind blows till four in the morning, in autumn and 
winter not till day-break, while in spring it does not continue 
longer than midnight. Those winds which arise in the other 
beginning of summer, cease about the middle of September : 
and this is the period of the most intense heats, there being 
no breeze to attenuate them. Fortunately, however, they 
are not of long duration ; and about the middle of October 
they sensibly decrease, as the atmosphere then begins to be 
freighted with watery clouds. The north winds, though North 
possessed of some good characteristics, are disagreeable in 
summer, on account of the injury they inflict on the cotton 
plants, which are sometimes withered thereby to the very 
roots ; and coming from the high mountains of Asia Minor, 
they are often very cold. But the principal cause of 
failure in the crops of Cyprus is drought, for the earth is 
often parched up — as it were — from the end of April till 
the middle of October. 

The coast of Syria has, on the whole, a very fine climate, Climate of 
albeit there are a few drawbacks, for while the mountainous 
districts undergo a tempestuous and gloomy winter, the 
summer of the plain is oppressively hot. Throughout the 
year, the winds are considerably influenced at different 
seasons by the lofty summits of the Taurus and Lebanon, 
by which their intensity, direction, and force are varied. 
On the upper portion of this coast, along the flanks of 
Lebanon, and about the roadstead of Alexandretta, the 



284 LEVANT WEATHER. 

sudden gusts of wind descending from the mountains, called 
Eageas. rageas (ghaziyah), must be looked out for when the peaks 
are capped with clouds : some of these are exceedingly 
violent, though transient, and are but little felt at a wide 
offing where the true wind, which blows over those peaks, 
Effects of is found. The north winds are for the most part dry and 
salubrious, yet cold and often strong ; while the south ones 
are mild and moist, accompanied by rain ; those from the 
east are laden with mist ; and the western, though often 
stormy, produce clear skies and exhilarating effects. These 
winds differ essentially according to the position of the 
ship's station, but they rarely blow very violently without a 
corresponding effect on the mercury. There is not much 
thunder, either in summer or winter, and when it does occur 
it is generally during the rainy season from November till 
March. The land winds, which in summer are very light, 
extend but to a short distance, commencing usually towards 
sunset, and continuing till sunrise ; afterwards the sea-breeze 
commences, and subsides more or less about an hour before 
sunset, sometimes dropping altogether. But occasionally 
the sea-winds blow most furiously, and this harbourless coast 
Gale of then becomes a dead and perilous lee-shore. This was very 
seriously experienced by our squadron under Admiral Sir 
Robert Stopford, in December, 1840, after his attack on 
Acre, when the Zebra was stranded high and dry, the Pique 
cut away her masts, and various casualties were suffered. 
On this occasion the Bellerojphon, a new ship of 80 guns, 
was obliged to cast some of her guns overboard ; and it was 
only by the able management of Captain C. J. Austin (see 
page 274), and the surprising exertions of her officers and 
crew, that she was providentially preserved from being cast 
ashore upon an iron-bound coast, where not a soul could 
have been saved. 

In treating of the meteorology in the Archipelago, 
certain inferences were confirmed by the statements of the 
ancient Greeks ; but as regards this coast we can appeal to the 



1840. 



WEATHER IN SYRIA. 285 

higher authority of the Sacred Scriptures. Now an opinion Allusions in 
has prevailed, that the north winds — which, blowing from tures. 
the mountains in that direction, must be cold — are the 
bearers of wet : but this neither agrees with recorded 
observation, nor with what we read in the Bible. In 
the book of Proverbs (xxv. 23), Solomon says, most Solomon, 
likely at Jerusalem, that 'the north wind driveth away 
rain ;' such, at least, is the authorized version ; but it must 
be admitted that others translated it — 'the wind from the 
unknown land of the north is pregnant with rain/ Be that 
as it may, and admitting the difference of latitude, with 
the influence of Mount Lebanon, &c, the effect of this 
wind, as experienced by the late well-known Consul- 
General Barker, at Aleppo, is the same as mentioned 
by Job, near Damascus (xxxvii. 22), probably upwards of job. 
1000 years before Solomon was born — ' Fair weather (gold- 
beaming clouds) cometh out of the north/ Again, when 
Elijah's servant, on being sent the seventh time (1 Kings, Elijah's 
xviii. 44) to the top of Mount Carmel to look out, reported 
that he saw a small cloud, ' like a man's hand/ rising from 
the sea — which, of course, was to the west of him — the 
prophet instantly predicted rain. A small dark cloud 
taking the nimbus form, with its rugged pendants resem- 
bling fingers, would be in keeping ; for it is a natural and 
very common prognostic, which may be seen from the same 
spot to this day. 

The climate of Lower Egypt is very hot in summer, Lower 
though with cooler nights than could have been expected ; jgyP ' 
with a mean annual temperature of 69°'3. On the coasts 
of the Delta, occasional rains commence with the fall of the 
year, and continue till March ; during which time the west 
and south-west gales prevail ; and as it then pours down 
for hours together, the Arabs designate those winds the 
Fathers of Rain. In March, the hot southerly wind called 
Khamsin (i. e. Fifty) commences, blowing two, three, or at 
most four days successively, and then subsiding only to 



286 WEATHER IN EGYPT. 

begin again soon. Its presence induces disease, and loads 
the lurid atmosphere with warm vapours, while clouds of 
dust and small flies are wafted oat to sea ; but being a land 
wind, the water is generally smooth, even though it some- 
times blows with hurricane force. It derives its name 
from its supposed limit between Easter and the gpstival 

TheSamum. solstice. It is also called the Samum (in Turkish, Sdmm- 
yeli), that is, the poisonous wind, from its suffocating heat. 
This in the central African deserts is often fatal ; but in 
Egypt and Barbary — though oppressive and troublesome, 
from filling the air with columns of hot sand, they are not 
dangerous. I have, indeed, been inconvenienced by them, 
but never experienced any really ill effect. The heavy, 
hazy weather continues till the sultry east winds about the 
beginning of June may be said to usher in the summer, 
when there is sometimes hardly a breath of air stirring in 
the day-time, and not a cloud to be seen ; but at night the 
northers set in, the surrounding air cools rapidly, and the 

st. John's dew falls densely. About St. John's day (24th of June), 
westerly and north-west winds refresh the air, and they 
continue more or less till September, with an atmosphere 
generally dry and clear. The north wind brings health and 
enjoyment ; and by blowing the laden clouds into and 
beyond Abyssinia, insures a regular supply for the Nile. 
These, however, are rather bodies of Mediterranean vapour 
than clouds, collecting into masses as they advance over the 
valley and lower ranges of hills to the lofty mountains of 
Africa, where, being refrigerated and condensed, they fall 
in periodical rains, and are carried back to their native 
sea : thus confirming the preacher's geological inference 
— 'unto the place from whence the rains come, thither 

Solomon, do they return again/ (Ecclesiastes, i. 7.) But though 
the northern winds are welcomed as benefactors, since the 
Nile is then sluggish from the damming up of its waters, a 
learned but not scientific writer has presumed that they 
cause the unhealthy season. 



WEATHER IN EGYPT. 287 

Circumspection will generally gain a fore- knowledge of Barometer 

ifi-r-1- ill -n indications. 

the harder gales of the Egyptian coast, though the oscilla- 
tions of the mercury are confined to a very limited range. 
In March, 1822, I observed a slight fall in the barometer, 
at a moment when the atmosphere had a most suspicious 
aspect ; and from taking advantage of this prognostic, we 
scarcely strained a rope-yarn, while at the same time the 
Turkish fleet lost two fine large frigates, three corvettes, and 
a brig, together with nearly 800 people. As this passed — 
so to speak — under the eye of the sagacious Mehemet Ali, 
he made numerous inquiries, in the course of which I was 
able to impress him with the use and importance of the 
marine barometer : little could I then anticipate the extra- 
ordinary fleet he was so soon to build and equip ! 

Between the Delta of Egypt and the Lesser Syrtis, the Coast of 
sea winds from west, round by the north to east, are y ' 
frequently violent and sudden, of which I have already 
recorded an instance respecting Lord Exmouth's squadron 
being caught, at page 90 : but the weather in general is 
very fine, the summer heats being moderated by breezes 
from the offing along the coast, and the winters are remark- 
ably mild. The nature and direction of the local winds 
may be tolerably well inferred, by an attentive meteorolo- 
gist, in watching the form and colour of the clouds ; those 
hot ones from the south often assuming the tint of the 
desert below them, as is especially seen at the back of 
Tripoli, from the offing. Their apparent changeableness 
has method and regularity, and even with the Mantuan's Regular 
1 omnia ventorum concurre prselia vidi' in mind, however tions. 
short their revolutions may be, we cannot but be struck 
with the constant periodical return of each cardinal wind, 
and its appropriation to certain seasons of the year, under 
solar influence. Thus, when the sun approaches the tropic 
of Cancer, the winds from the east change to the north, and 
become pretty constant to that direction through the sum- 
mer : and towards the end of September, when that lunii- 



288 



THE MIRAGE. 



Solomon. 



Greater 
Syrtis. 



Sarab. 



Isaiah. 



nary repasses the line, the winds return to their eastern 
quarters. When the sun approaches the tropic of Capri- 
corn, the winds become more variable and tempestuous, and 
frequently blow very hard from north-west and west : and 
when he returns towards the equator about the end of 
February and March, southerly winds may be expected. 
This periodical constancy and atmospheric circulation must 
have attracted notice from the earliest times ; and the Son 
of David is borne out in saying — c The wind goeth toward 
the south, and turneth about unto the north ; it whirleth 
about continually, and the wind returneth again according 
to his circuits/ (Ecclesiastes, i. 6.) 

The once-dreaded Lybian Gulf must not be passed with- 
out being noticed, as the seat of our earliest tales about 
whirlwinds, whirlpools, quicksands, vapours, and all possible 
marine perils : to say nothing of the monsters and spectral 
apparitions so learnedly discussed by Diodorus Siculus 
(Lib. iii. cap. 3). All these, however, save fogs and the 
surges occasioned by northern winds of long range blowing 
home on the coast, have disappeared : and to such natural 
phenomena must be added the Sarab, which Europeans 
now call mirage, a singular effect of unusual refraction so 
frequently seen in this and other arid shores of the Medi- 
terranean, as well as elsewhere. This deeeptio visus 
is the ' parched ground (sultry vapour f) which shall be- 
come a pool' of Isaiah (xxxv. 7); the Sarab (vapour 
of the desert) which Mahomet says 'the thirsty traveller 
thinketh to be water, until, when he cometh thereto, he 
findeth it to be nothing!" (Koran, chapter xxiv.); and the 
deceitful sea of the desert of Sogdiana, described by Quintus 
Curtius (lib. vii. cap. 5) ; of which, probably, our loomers, 
flying Dutchmen, Capes Flyaway, and other deceptions 
from vertical or lateral refraction, are mere modifications of 
the action of the sun and earth on the different densities of 
the lower atmospheric strata. When the sun has heated the 
sandy plains, and by reverberation the air above them ? the 



THE MIRAGE. 289 

clear cerulean sky is inverted by the mirage into an exten- 
sive sheet of translucent water, in which the eminences and 
objects around are reflected, and of course reversed as they 
would be on the surface of a lake. On one occasion, near instance of 

illusion. 

the west side of the Syrtis, the illusion which I witnessed 
was so perfect, that it was with difficulty I could persuade 
Mr. Edward Tyndale — whose extreme thirst made him long 
to reach the water — that the supposed lake was receding 
from us as we advanced, until our amused Arab companions 
pointed to another sarab formed in the space over which 
we had ridden. Another which I saw in Egypt was so 
distinct, and the desolate sands rendered so enticing and 
picturesque, as to make me for a moment doubt whether I 
was in my right senses. 

Mirage is not confined to the arid wastes of north Africa : other sites 

of mirage 

the temperature of the Mediterranean is of course modified 
and affected by the wmd, while the refractive power of the 
atmosphere as naturally varies with its density, and its 
density with its temperature ; but these again are strongly 
modified by the sun-burnt wastes adjacent. Hence the 
effect is carried to a certain height, and is productive of 
strong looming, so that places are sometimes seen which are 
otherwise generally concealed from the view of each other 
by the convexity of the globe. In my account of Sardinia 
{page 80), I mentioned the appearance of the mirage over 
the plain of Campidano ; and I also saw it most distinctly in 
the neighbourhood of Manfredonia, as well as on the plain 
of the Bojana, in the Adriatic. But the most remarkable 
effect of irregular refraction recorded, is the celebrated aerial 
display in the Faro of Messina, which has for ages astonished 
the million, and perplexed philosophers. It is called Fata Fata Mor- 
Morgana, from its being supposed to be a spectacle under 
the influence of a Fairy Queen, the ' Morgian la Fay' of 
popular legends. It is said to occur in sultry, calm weather, 
when the tides, or streamed-up waters, are at their highest, 
and when the sun shines from that point whence its inci- 

U 



290 FOGS. 

dent rays form an angle of about 45° on the water, At 
such times, they tell us, multiplied images of all the 
objects existing on the two lines of coast — as castles, arches, 
towers, houses, trees, animals, and mountains— are pre- 
sented in the air with wonderful precision and magnificence. 

Padre Padre Minasi assures us that, in addition to obvious appear- 
story. ances, numberless series of pilasters, superb palaces with 
balconies, armies of men on foot and horseback, and many 
other strange figures, are seen in their natural colours and 
proper action, as in a catoptric theatre ; and there exist paint- 
ings and engravings of the wonderful phenomenon. Still, on 
the whole, I cannot but repeat the conviction to which 
inquiry led me, and which I published as far back as 1824 
(Sicily and its Islands, page 109): — ' I much doubt, how- 
ever, the accuracy of the descriptions I have heard and read, 
as I cannot help thinking that the imagination strongly 
assists these dioptric appearances, having never met with a 
Sicilian who had actually seen anything more than the 
loom or mirage, consequent on a peculiar state of the 
atmosphere ; but which, I must say, I have here observed 
many times to be unusually strong/ 

Fogs. Yet though the Gulf of Syrtis is now free from spectral 

illusions — fogs, mists, and sea-frets are still to be met with ; 
and the accumulation of vapours is sometimes so great as 
to obscure the solar rays, a time when — as the poor Roman 
Campanians have it — il sole si vede, e non si vede, 
while the face of the luminary, in revealing itself, has the 
rusty-iron tint alluded to by Virgil. 

Cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit. 

These fogs, in general, are unlike the damp mists of the 
north, being the dry, thick haze of which the air is full in 
the warm season, in most parts of the Mediterranean, occa- 
sioning little inconvenience or depression of spirits. Indeed, 
it would be more propitious to vegetation around, if the 
vapours so frequently seen dissipating in the lower regions 
of air, were more frequently condensed and precipitated in 



FOGS. 291 

showers. There are meteorologists, however, who insist 
that the production of winds depends chiefly on the conden- 
sation of vapours ; and that the direction of any wind is 
according to the situation of the condensing vapour ; while 
its strength is as the velocity of such condensed vapour, and 
the quickness of its condensation. The course being thus 
indicated, M. Mariotte thinks the intensity may be brought Manotte. 
under mechanical computation ; for wind being only air in 
motion, and air a fluid subject to the laws of other fluids, 
an investigation of the ratio of specific gravities, times, and 
impulsions, will give the force. This is a conclusive Q. E. D. 
to some inquirers ; but the process speaks more for the 
soundness of the formula than for the possibility of obtain- 
ing the data. When the leading phenomena respecting the 
distribution of heat, and the distribution and effects of so 
rare and expansible a body as vapour in the atmosphere, 
shall be better known, the inferences may become infallible. 
It must not, however, be supposed that this sea is with- 
out thick humid fogs, as well as the dry ones here men- Humid fogs, 
tioned : * some of them have singular refractive powers 
where, from the nature of the country, sudden cold is 
induced by changes of wind ; the specific gravity of the air 
being increased, and its ascent thereby retarded, it becomes 
a dense medium both to sight and sound. I once witnessed 
a curious effect of fog-looming at Scoglietti, on the south Fog- 

looming. 

coast of Sicily. I was pulling on shore, where some of the 
inhabitants of that little port and Captain Henryson, R E., 
were standing on the beach to wait for my landing. As 
we approached, the group appeared like a barrack, which 
gradually split into vertical portions as we advanced, and on 
approaching still nearer, separated more and more, until on 
our arrival they became palpably men. On another occa- 
sion, in May, 1812, when off Majorca — an island not at all 



* Every navigator of the shores of Venice, where the chief land-marks 
are campanili, or steeples, must recollect how they are often vexatiously 
hidden by fogs. 

u2 



292 



DEW. 



Fog off 
Majorca. 



Dew. 



Daniell. 



subject to fogs — in a line-of-battle ship, and during an 
impervious haze, with the wind easterly, we all at once 
plainly heard human voices ; this was partly owing to the 
power which fog has of transmitting and conducting sound, 
for the people proved to be further from us than we appre- 
hended. At length we saw the mast-heads of several vessels, 
and shortly afterwards discovered their hulls, magnified by 
the medium into those of two-deckers. Aware that we had 
no such ships in this direction, we beat to quarters, cleared 
for action, and stood for the nearest. As the atmosphere 
suddenly cleared off, we found ourselves in the midst of an 
Algerine squadron of two frigates, two brigs, and two cor- 
vettes, under the command of Omar Bey, afterwards Dey 
of Algiers, when that city was attacked by Lord Exmouth. 
There is yet a point in Mediterranean meteorology 
which must be named, because greatly misunderstood : viz., 
Dew ; another visible evidence of the aqueous vapour per- 
vading the atmosphere. Those who talk of heavy dews 
' falling/ and suppose that they may be deemed a kind of 
rain, think they might be allowed for as a shower; but would 
they recollect that an inch of water over an English acre 
is about 100 tons, and the dew mostly a humefaction, how- 
ever copious the depositions may occasionally be, they 
would perceive the extreme difficulty of approaching such 
a question under such varied hygrometrical conditions 
and frigorific impressions. But in a more practical view, 
Dew is a standard weather-predictor. Entirely distinct 
from the evaporation which we have already treated, the 
next evaporating power will be as the difference between 
that force of vapour answering to the temperature at which 
dew would begin to act, and the temperature to which the 
evaporating substance is exposed ; and this is called the 
Dew-Point Now any sudden change in the dew-point is 
accompanied by a change of wind. Professor Daniell says, 
' an increasing difference between the temperature of the 
air and the temperature of the point of condensation, ac- 



DEW. 293 

companied by a fall of the latter, is a sure prognostication The dew- 
of fine weather ; while diminished heat and a rising dew- 
point infallibly portend a rainy season/ This is obviously 
correct, for it is from the latent caloric contained in vapour 
that the force of wind is derived ; whence it follows, that 
when the dew-point is high, there is sufficient steam-power 
in the air to produce a violent gale, since then the quantity 
of vapour in the air is greatest. The hygrometer which I 
used was, as already stated, one of De Luc's construction ; 
Lieut. Beechey employed Leslie's, but its rapid consumption 
of ether in that climate was a serious objection. Daniell's 
(see page 215) wet-and-dry bulb hygrometer had not yet 
made its appearance ; but I cannot resist pointing out the 
passage in Pliny (Nat Hist, lib. xviii., cap. 85), translated Pliny, 
by Holland, which led to that ingenious invention : — 

And to conclude and make an end at once of this discourse, whensoever 
you see at any feast the dishes and platters wherein your meat is served up 
to the bourd, sweat or stand of a dew, and leaving that sweat which is 
resolved from them either upon dresser, cupbourd, or table, be assured that 
it is a token of terrible tempests approching. 

I greatly regret that I was then unaware of another Scirocco- 
wonderful link in the chain of meteorological knowledge, 
which I could several times have contributed to unravel, by 
collecting specimens. In my account of Sicily and its Islands 
(page 6), I mentioned that on the 14th of March, 1814, 
on a warm hazy day, thermometer 63|°, and barometer 
29*43 inches, it rained in large muddy drops, which depo- 
sited a very minute sand, of a yellow red colour. Since 
this record was published, similar dust-rain, blood^rain, or 
scirocco-dust has attracted philosophical inquiry ; and the 
crowning of the beautiful theory of atmospheric circulation 
only awaits the obtaining and examination of additional 
samples. By the zealous exertions of Professor Ehrenberg, Ehrenberg. 
the revealment of a truly wondrous and invisible working 
and vitality in myriads of infusoria pervading the atmo- 
sphere, has followed the microscopic scrutiny of this dust. 
Among the organisms, the Professor has recognised poly- Organisms. 



294 DUST-RAIN. 

gastrica, phytolitharia, and many varieties of siliceous- 
shelled infusoria, which minimum types of life constitute, 
perhaps, so large a proportion as one-fifth of the whole 
quantity examined. What cyclical relation these creatures 
have in regard to different atmospheric strata, still remains 
for continued inquiry ; but it is ascertained that they float 
in the air together with masses of fixed terrestrial matter, 
Analysis of as flint-earths, chalk, and ferruginous oxides ! It has also 
been found that the Mediterranean dust, and that of the 
Atlantic, possess a striking similarity of organic composition ; 
and by a chemical analysis of the latter, recently made at 
New York, by Mr. W. Gibbs, it appears, that with 100 as 
unity, there were — 

Parts. 

Water and organic matter 18*53 

Flinty earths 37'13 

Clayey earths 1674 

Iron oxide 7"65 

Oxide of Manganese 3 44 

Carbonic acid chalk earth . . . c . 9*59 

Talc earth 1-80 

Alcali 2-97 

Natron 1-90 

Oxide of Copper 0*25 

Total . . . 100-00 

a word to The main aim of these pages is to awaken the intelli- 

gent mariner's attention ; but lest the general reader should 
be alarmed about the squalls, and fogs, and compounded 
atmosphere here necessarily enumerated, we may assure 
him — without a reminder that sudden transparency is 
ominous — that he will otherwise meet with brilliant and 
diaphanous skies. The atmosphere, for the greater part of 
the year, is so clear, that it gives brilliancy and life to every- 
thing in view; and the evening tints at such times are 
equally marvellous and delicious. Most of the Mediter- 
ranean shores, in the summer months, are subject to a 
whitish vapour in the sky, softening to a silvery haze, and 
forming a medium through which all objects present both 
delicate colours and picturesque appearances -, and some- 



BEAUTIFUL SKIES. 295 

times with the singular property of making headlands, Aerial 
edifices, and mountains seem more elevated than they 
really are ; and this aerial translucence, when influencing 
highly rarefied moisture, is the reason why distant objects 
appear to be much nearer in fine weather just before the 
approach of rain. It was in weather of this description 
that, in September, 1822, while at anchor among the 
Tremiti Isles, in the Adriatic, we were enabled to see that 
singular effect of solar atmosphere, the zodiacal light, with zodiacal 
striking distinctness, presenting a sloping, luminous pyramid s 
upwards of 20° above the horizon, 8° or 10° wide at the base ; 
and in such a state of the air, I have frequently enjoyed 
glorious views of finely-coloured double stars — as x Herculis, 
7 Andromedae, and s Bootis ; and on one occasion the 
cluster in the sword-handle of Perseus was surpassingly 
gorgeous. A good index of atmospheric modification is 
found at Malta, which generally affords only a sea-horizon 
around ; but in some states of the weather, the summit of 
Mount Etna becomes distinctly visible, although it is 110 Mount 
miles distant, and once I must really have seen half of it. 
The 31st of January, 1822, was a wonderfully clear day, 
and that grand volcano so obtrusively perceptible to the 
naked eye, that I took its bearing by an azimuth compass 
from the tower of the palace, when the rhomb was exactly 
N. 27° 12' E. ; and it formed, from the same place, an 
angle of 110° 31' with Civita Vecchia church. 

The climate of Tunis is one of the finest in the world, Tunisian 
and its air is pure, serene, and wholesome ; the thermo- 
meter ranging, in general seasons, from about 45° to 87°, with 
an average mean temperature of 68'5°; and all the revolu- 
tions of the weather, with rare exceptions, are between 2910 
and 30*30 inches. During the summer and early autumn, 
rain is unusual, but it is looked for towards the middle of 
October ; and should it not fall till later in the year, a scanty 
following harvest is predicted. After the rains have com- 



296 WEATHER AT TUNIS. 

menced, they continue with great violence for eight or ten 

days, when hunters for antiquities repair to the many 

neighbouring ruins in search of coins and other antiques, 

Tunisian laid bare by the showers. From thence to the spring, a 

seasons. 

fine period for Europeans generally ensues, for the winter 
— perhaps improperly so called — can only include the 
months of December and January, during which fresh 
winds and heavy rain render the air chilly and raw. The 
spring is warm, but hot weather sets in towards the middle 
of June, and lasts in its fervour till September ; the coasts, 
however, are attempered by a constant sea-breeze, which 
blows from about 9 A.M. to near sunset. Notwithstanding 
this corrective, the laud-winds are almost insupportably 
sultry, and bring with them clouds of fine sand, which 
darken the air, and penetrate into every recess. During 
Sdrocco at a scorching scirocco, in Julv, J 822 — in which the thermo- 

Tunis. & > . J> 

meter rose to 93° in the afternoon, and fell only to 84° in 
the night — one of my seamen, a fine youth, employed on 
the Lake of Tunis, was overcome, and fell a corpse in the 
boat** Navigators making landfalls hereabout in the 
winter should be sure of their reckonings in foggy weather, 

h.m.s. for there is not much sea-room. In July, 1797, the Aigle, 
a 36-gun frigate, commanded by the late Sir Charles Tyler, 
ran upon Zembra Island, and was totally wrecked. In 

Eirondeiie. February, 1808, the Hirondelle, a cutter of 14 guns, was 
lost on this coast, and only four men saved out of a crew 
of fifty ; and on the 7th and 8th of March, 1821, a heavy 
gale, which ravaged most of the Mediterranean shores, was 
so vehement in Tunis Bay, that three frigates, three cor- 



* Cloudless skies for weeks together, are wearisome enough, and the 
trite exclamation of the late Captain Fothergill, may be in point. This 
eccentric officer was returning from India, where he had served for years: 
coming on deck, when entering the English Channel in a foggy November 
morning, ' Hah,' said he to the lieutenant of the watch, ' this is what I call 
something like — none of your cursed eternal blue skies here — a fellow can 
see his own breath now!' The seasons of Tunis, as above stated, differ from 
those of Labrador ; for according to a remark of the gallant Benbow, still 
preserved at the Admiralty, he tersely recorded — ' There is a winter of nine 
months, and d d bad weather the other three!' 



ALGERIAN WEATHER. 297 

vettes, two brigs, and a schooner of war, with about twenty Tunisian 
sail of merchantmen, were wrecked, and more than 1800 
men were drowned. (See page 92.) 

Off the hills of the Has Sebah Rus (Seven Capes), the Mountain 

. i gusts. 

headland so greatly dreaded by trading vessels, violent 
gusts are occasionally felt; but their approach may be 
inferred by the descent of light airs in fine weather, shown 
in the little playing eddies termed cat's paws. 

Algeria has a fine climate and salubrious atmosphere, Seasons at 

... . Algiers. 

the winters being mild, and the summers, excepting for an 
occasional scorch from the Desert, far from insupportably 
hot; insomuch that Dr. Shaw, in the account of his 
residence there, has said that he found the thermometer 
contracted to the freezing point only twice in twelve 
years, and then under very unusual circumstances. And 
he adds, what is partly confirmed by my own experience, 
and partly by information which I collected, that the winds 
from the east are common from May to September ; and 
that then the westerly winds take place, and become the 
most frequent. Sometimes, also, particularly about the 
equinoxes, they exert the force and impetuosity which the 
ancients have ascribed to the Africus or south-west wind, AMcus. 
here called Labbetch (Libeccio). ' The winds from the 
west, the north-west, and north/ he continues, ' are attended 
with fair weather in summer, and with rain in winter. But 
the easterly winds (Levanters), no less than the southerly, Levanters, 
are, for the most part, dry, though accompanied in most 
seasons with a thick and cloudy atmosphere. The baro- 
meter rises to 30^- or 30-^ inches with a northerly wind, 
though it be attended with the greatest rains and tempests. 
But there is nothing constant or regular in easterly or 
westerly winds ; though, for three or four months together, 
in the summer, whether the winds are from one or the 
other quarter, the mercury stands at about 30 inches 
without the least variation. With the hot southerly winds, 
it is rarely found higher than 29-^, which is, also, the 



298 THE MAJORCA CARPENTER. 

usual indi- ordinary height in stormy, wet weather from the west/ 
These remarks are substantially correct ; but a little closer 
attention would perhaps have shown the observant "Doctor 
that the barometer generally rises with winds from the 
north to the east, and falls with those from the contrary 
points; and that though the range is confined within a 
few lines, the indications are evident. 

winds. Although pregnant with salubrity to the coast inhabi- 

tants, the most troublesome winds to seamen are those from 
north-north-east, north, and north-north-west, which, how- 
ever, are preceded by an on-shore swell two or three days 
beforehand. Yet, on the Christmas -eve of 1797, the 

h.m.s. Ha- Hamadryad frigate was surprised by a norther, and lite- 

madryad. 

rally blown on the beach of Algiers Bay, where she was 

totally wrecked. On the 15th of September, 1823, the 

h.m.s. Ad- Adventure was at anchor off the lighthouse of that place, 

venture. 

rolling prodigiously to the precursing swell, with an over- 
cast sky, and a tremulous barometer. Knowing it was a 
time to expect hard weather, I asked for a berth within 
the mole ; but finding the Dey disinclined to accede, the 
anchors were weighed, and we clawed off only just before 
a boisterous storm set in, when, as Mr. M'Donnel, our 
Consul- General, informed me, eight vessels were lost. 

Frequency Indeed, so frequently are fragments of wreck strewed about 
' the several strands, that a gale from the northward is 
termed 'the Majorca Carpenter/ in allusion to the direction 
of that island from Algiers. 

Charles v. While on this topic, it is advisable to notice the disaster 
which befel that proud emperor, Charles V., who here 
received a humiliation that must have taught him the 
vanity of human greatness : and as the principles of mete- 
orology continue the same in all ages, the instance will still 
be an example in point. The successes of the Algerine 
corsairs, and their descents even on the coast of Italy, so 
alarmed and vexed Pope Paul III., that he earnestly 
solicited that potent monarch to gird up his loins against 



DISASTER OF CHARLES V. 299 

those audacious infidels. The appeal was not made in vain ; Spanish ex- 
for besides being elated on one side by his victories at pe 
Tunis, Charles was nettled on the other by the loss of his 
fortress before Algiers, by the indignities heaped upon his 
governor there, and by the many aggressions committed 
against his subjects. A tremendous armada was equipped, 
which he determined to command in person ; and that 
nothing should be wanting to stimulate zeal, and render the 
enterprise both powerful and successful, the pope published 
a bull, promising a plenary absolution to all such persons 
as should embark, and a crown of martyrdom to all who 
should fall in the conflict. No fewer than 500 bottoms of its strength, 
all sorts, including 12Q men-of-war, and 20 of the largest 
imperial galleys, were quickly fitted out, and, besides the 
numerous crews, 30,000 choice troops were put on board. 
In addition to the regular forces, numbers of the nobility, 
knights of Malta, and gentry flocked to the standard, among 
whom were some Englishmen, at their own expense ; and 
so great was the general confidence, that many ladies also 
embarked. This mighty fleet, conducted by the famous 
Andrea Doria, cast anchor in the Bay of Algiers on the a. Dona. 
26th of October, 1541, which was about three months too 
late in the year ; for the general depth and exposure of the 
bight between the capes of Temedfus and Al-Kanatir, 
render it at all times liable to the rolling swells just 
mentioned, and in the winter season it is ever notoriously 
unsafe. 

The arrival of such a force threw the corsairs into the conduct of 
utmost consternation, inasmuch as their best men were at vaded" 
that moment dispersed in the provinces to collect the annual 
tribute. In this dilemma, the Dey behaved with singular 
judgment and resolution; and being duly summoned by the 
emperor's herald to surrender, with a promise of many 
favours if he consented, replied with some humour, that 
* he should take the man for a madman who would follow 
the advice of an enemy/ Meantime, Don Carlos had 



300 DISASTER OF CHARLES V. 

The land- already experienced the inconvenience of the bay, in being 

ins. 

obliged to disembark his troops through a heavy surf, the 
roughness of which compelled the men to wade ashore, and 
precluded the landing of tents and necessaries, while 
frequent falls of rain rendered their situation most comfort- 
less. However, the general spirit was excellent ; each 
individual did his best ; the heights were gained, and the 
imperial pavillion was pitched on the eminence above the 
city, on the spot still called the Emperor's Castle. Here 
they maintained an encampment, though furiously assaulted 

The sortie, by a sortie of the besieged, until their matches were 
extinguished and their powder damped by heavy rains. 
Now the weather must have presaged a storm from the 
time of the armada's bringing to; and had that simple 
monitor, the marine barometer, been then in use, the dread- 
ful calamity which ensued might have been avoided, on a 
thirty or forty hours' notice. The observant Doria had, 
indeed, apprehended the mischief, from various natural 
indications, and warned his imperial master ; yet, having 
no positive data to adduce, such as would have been afforded 
by the mercury, the emperor perhaps hoped — and the wish 
* was father to the hope' — that the fresh breeze then expe- 
rienced was already at its maximum. However, on the 
night of the 28th of October, after the repulse of a 

The storm sanguinary sortie had fatigued the whole camp, the gale 
increased to a furious hurricane from the north, accom- 
panied by deluges of rain, which threw the unsheltered 
Christians into the greatest distress, and destroyed almost 
all their ammunition and provisions. As daylight advanced, 
a horrible scene opened upon their eyes. The ships in the 
bay, on which their safety and subsistence depended, were 

its ravages, most of them driven from their moorings and bilged ; and 
both sea and coast were covered with broken wrecks, spars, 
goods, and drowned bodies. Thousands of Moors and 
Arabs of both sexes, beholding this destruction, rushed to 
the sea-side, stripped naked those who gained the shore, 
and then speared them without mercy. The number of 



MOROCCO WEATHER. 301 

square-rigged vessels alone which perished during that Loss of 
dismal night, was not fewer than 140 ; and many of those 
that rode till the morning, fearful of foundering at their 
anchors, as the storm still raged and the sea rolled home, 
slipped and ran aground on the sand between Temedfus and 
the Wad Harej, thinking at least to save their lives : but, 
as soon as the wet and weary multitudes landed, they were 
inhumanly butchered, being unable to make any resistance 
Scarcely more than one-third of the armament escaped.* 

Morocco is necessarily very warm, but not so much as Climate of 

TVrorocco 

might be expected from its geographical situation; the 
interior being cooled by the mountain winds. The coast 
experiences the alternations of land and sea breezes, while 
the climate is at once mild and healthy. The seasons are 
divided into the dry and the wet, the latter generally being 
from November till March. From Algiers along the coast 
of Morocco, to the Strait of Gibraltar, the winds continue 
to follow, in great measure, the direction of the coast ; being Leading 
generally from west-south-west round by north to the east; 
the former being most prevalent in winter, and the latter 
in summer. Excepting as a land breeze near the shore, 
the south wind seldom blows steadily ; though it is occa- 
sionally both hot and violent, raising the thermometer 
several degrees, and forming a marvellous contrast in its 
effect on the spirits between a souther and a north-west 
wind. Between Melilah and Ceuta, vessels must not be 
caught in the bad seasons by a north-easter, which is apt to 
rise suddenly, and with a high sea. Breezes from the east 
often draw round to the south, and are sometimes — especially 
in the autumnal months — immediately followed by a west 

wind : the westerly winds, if light, are accompanied by Weather in- 
dications, 
fine clear weather, as before described ; but when strong, 



* In this gale, the sanguinary Hernando Cortez lost all the matchless 
jewels with which he hoped to have bought a return to the Emperor's favour. 
It is an ill wind that does no good ! 









302 DAMAGE BY LIGHTNING. 

they are cloudy, with a high sea ; and if in winter they 
veer to the north, accompanied by a swell from that quarter, 
a brisk gale may be looked for. The weather is treacherous 
in the winter season, and should therefore be watched : in 
February, 1799, two vessels of war belonging to the Basha 
of Tripoli were wrecked in Tetuan bay, when such was the 
driving sea, that only twenty-one men were saved of the 
h.m.s. two crews ; and in November, 1801, the Utile, sloop-of- 

Utile. 

war of 14 guns, commanded by Captain Canes, foundered 
in a heavy storm, on her passage from Gibraltar to Malta, 
when all her crew and passengers were lost. 



§ 3. Damage by Lightning. 

THUS far on Mediterranean weather, the various branches 
of which are all and severally exhibited therein under 

Electric dis- energy and effect. But of all the detriments to Britain's 
bulwarks and maritime life, none is more^ dreadful, when 
the sudden juncture breaks upon us, than lightning. By 
this term seamen do not mean those lambent displays of 
electricity which appear in sheets or balls, and are unat- 
tended with danger : they emphatically apply, it to the full 
development of opposite electricities in commotion, with 
unbalanced fury flying at beast, man, tree, tower, and ship. 
Yet by the aid of experimental philosophy, this mighty and 
subtle agent is now all but reduced to the careful seaman's 
command ; for though it would be desirable to avoid the 
contact of electric fluid under any circumstances, its powers 
can be regulated and restrained in their devious course by 
metallic conductors. This, indeed, forms one of the proudest 
mental and practical feats of comparatively our own times : 
and the Roman emperor who proclaimed a reward to the 
inventor of a new pleasure, should have been by the side of 

Franklin. Franklin when he first enjoyed the gratification of drawing 
the lightning from the clouds, in order to witness the dis- 
parity between material and intellectual enjoyment. But 



LIGHTNING COMMITTEE. 303 

how would Franklin's triumph have been enhanced, could 
he have dreamt of the almost countless wonders to which he Electric 
opened the way, as now performed by galvanism and all the 
various branches of amenable electricity — to measuring 
time, annihilating distance, and making lightning convey 
our very words through sea and over land from one end of 
the world to the other. 

Since my return to England, this question has attracted a Com- 
the strict attention of Government, and a Committee was pointed, 
appointed by the Admiralty to inquire into it, under par- 
liamentary authority. On this occasion, I was applied to 
officially as to certain rumours they had heard. My reply 
was printed in the House of Commons' Keport ; but as 
seamen are not often in the habit of consulting those costly 
blue folios, I shall here insert it : — 

Bedford, 7th June, 1839. 

Sir, — In answer to your letter of the 5th instant, I beg to state, that 
about the end of September, 1824, writing from memory, His Majesty's ships H.M. ships 
Phaeton and Adventure were moored inside the mole at Gibraltar, when a Phaeton 
violent thunder storm took place. I was writing in my cabin in the even- ven t U re 
ing, but was interrupted by a startling crash, followed by a cry of ' The 
Phaeton's on fire.' I instantly ran upon deck, turned up the hands, veered 
away upon the fasts, hove-in the bower-cables, and manned the boats ; but 
the flames were quickly extinguished, principally, Captain Sturt told me, by 
the cool exertions of one of his men, who was therefore expressly recom- 
mended. Her foremast, I understood, was rent from the truck to the 
deck, some sails and rigging were set on fire, and several seamen struck 
down. 

On this occasion, the Adventure's conductor was rigged, but the Phaeton 
was unprotected. The vessels were about a cable's length apart, and they 
were the only ships there. Many of my people felt a kind of electric 
shock more than once that night, but we did not sustain the slightest 
damage. 

My own opinion of the conducting power of metallic wires, and there- Conductors, 
fore the vast utility of lightning conductors, indifferent as their construction 
and adaptation seemed to be, was very strong in their favour ; and I have 
laboured hard to propagate this feeling, in opposition to the notion of their 
being dangerous, from attracting the lightning; an opinion which cannot 
but be deemed absurd, since it infers that the masts, and not the ship, form 
a point in the electrified surface. Indeed, it would be a comfort to the ser- 
vice, as well as an amazing saving in spars, canvas, and gear, were the laws 
and indications of meteorology more strictly attended to. 

During many years passed at sea, I had known of several disasters occa- 
sioned by lightning, and also of various ships being struck, and escaping 
destruction as if by a miracle. This led me so to consider the subject, that, 
in my written orders, the officer of the watch wan directed, whenever the 



304 CONTRADICTORY OPINIONS. 

Precautions weather appeared threatening, whether at sea or in port, to hoist the con- 
adopted. d uc t; 0I ^ w hich was kept, not in a store-room, but in a box fixed to the stool 
of the after main-topmast backstay ; and both officers and men were carefully 
instructed to place it so that the spindle should be well above the truck, and 
the chain carried into the water, clear of the cross-trees, top, and channels, 
by outriggers.* 

Under these precautions I feel a confidence tantamount to conviction, 
that at least the spars of His Majesty's ship under my command were saved 
in several severe thunder-storms which she encountered in the Gulf of Lyons, 
the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, and in the Lesser Syrtis, the electric fluid 
having been seen to descend the chain, and pass overboard into the sea, 
without damage to the ship. 

H.M.S. I happened to be on board the Queen, of 74 guns, when an electric dis- 

Queen. charge shivered her main-topmast to chips, and fatally damaged her main- 
mast, in the harbour of Messina, in 1815. On this occasion I remarked to 
Sir Charles Penrose, who had his flag flying on board her, that the amount 
of injury now inflicted would supply all the ships on the station with light- 
ning conductors. If I remember rightly, this ship carried the useless and 
dangerous appendage of a spindle upon her truck. — I have, &c, 

W. H. Smyth, Captain R.N. 
To Waller Clifton, Esq., 
Secretary to the Lightning Committee. 

Conflicting In this inquiry, as in the case of very many others, it 

evidence 

may be seen how difficult it is to get at the fact when no 
notes are taken at the time. From the conversation which 
took place between Sir Charles Penrose and myself, when 
I made the remark just related, it is obvious that there 
could have been no conductor up when the Queen was 

Capt. Bird, struck. But on the Committee's application to Captain 
Bird, who was a midshipman on board that ship, he stated 
that ' he was pretty sure it was up, and his shipmate, Mr. 
Bisson, thought the same/ Such contradictory evidence 
was baffling to inquiry ; and the Committee then applied to 

Admiral the present Admiral Coode, who was captain of the Queen 
at the time, and he most distinctly replied that they were 
not up, because ' the Admiral, whose flag he had the honour 
to be under, had an objection to using the imperfect ones 
then supplied to the navy/ 



* I ought here to have added, that I further directed, if the top-gallant 
masts were struck, that the back-stays should not be sheep- shanked, but 
stoppered down to their respective stools. 



CASUALTIES BY LIGHTNING. 



305 



The labours of the Committee terminated in a full con- 
viction of the utility of conductors, when handled properly, 
and of the great advantage which would result to the public 
from adopting those fitted on the plau of Mr. William Snow Sir w - s - 

. . . Harris. 

Harris, with whom I have been long in communication : 
this able electrician was knighted shortly afterwards, and 
pensioned for his skill. Many instances of damage by the 
electric fluid to our Mediterranean fleet are recorded in the 
preceding pages ; yet the value of the adoption, both as to life 
and treasure, may be still more enforced by submitting the 
following list of the casualties which occurred during the 
time of my service on that most important of our fleet 
stations. Inference also points out that the electric fluid 
has destroyed various vessels to which the term ' missing 5 
has been applied ; and I well remember the Malta go- 
vernment-packet Blucher sailing for the Ionian Islands at The 
the beginning of 1816, in a thunderstorm ; — she was never 
heard of afterwards. 



Name. 
Ajax . . 



Albion 



Apollo . 



Barfleur 



Hlake . . 



Buzzard 



Chanticleer 



Guns. 
74 



74 



71 



10 



10 



Date. Remarks. 

June, 1811 . ... Off Gorgona. Main-topmast shivered by 
the lightning, and mainmast disabled. 
This ship was again struck off Toulon, 
in 1813. 

Dec. 1818 . ... At Malta. Mainmast struck, and one 
man killed. The mainyard was also 
wounded. (I was told of an alarming 
rumbling in the hold, which continued 
for several seconds.) 

Aug. 1811 . ... Mediterranean station. Spars wounded, 
but the particulars not correctly ascer- 
tained. The cabin bellwires were fused. 

Oct. 1813 . ... Off Toulon. Fore-topmast shivered, fore- 
mast damaged, light-room windows of 
fore-magazine shattered, and its door 
forced open. The danger was imminent. 

March, 1812 ... Coast of France. Main-topgallaut-mast 
shivered, the lower rigging set on fire, 
and two men hurt. (This made Captain 
Codrington so warm an advocate for 
conductors, that he told me he would 
never go to sea again without one.) 

Sept.\$\2 . ... Off Minorca. Lost main- topmast and top- 
gallant-mast, mainmast wounded, and 
starboard pump split. 

Oct. 1822 . ... At anchor before Corfu. The mainmast 
shivered from the truck to the deck, 
and the latter covered with chips and 
splinters. 



306 



CASUALTIES BY LIGHTNING. 



Name. 
Cumberland 



Cumberland 



Eagle . . 



Eagle . . 



Guns. Date. 

74 ... Aug. 1810 

74 ... Sept. 1810 

74 ... Nov. 1811 



74 .. 



Jan. 1812 



Eagle 



Fredericksteen 



HiBERNIA . . 



Kent . . . 



74 ... Jan. 1812 



32 



March, 1812 



120 ... Aug. 1813 
74 ... July, 1811 



Larne . 



Leviathan 



Ocean 



Orlando 



Phaeton 



74 



46 



Feb. 1820 



Oct. 1812 



Sept. 1813 



Jan. 1813 



Sept. 1824 



PH03NIX 



POMONE 



... Feb. 1816 



Nov. 1811 



Remarks. 

Faro of Messina. Mainmast struck by 
lightning, the upper spars shivered, and 
the main-top set on fire. 

Faro of Messina. The ship again struck 
within a week of the above accident, and 
the spars disabled. Several of the men 
experienced a temporary blindness. 

In the Adriatic. The lightning struck the 
foremast, and wounded one man. Some 
of the gear was damaged. 

Off Ante-Paxo. Lightning struck the 
mainmast, burst off one of the hoops, 
and wounded ten men. 

Off Corfu. Mainmast twice struck, and 
set on fire. The rigging and spars 
damaged, and Captain Rowley with 
many men were knocked down. 

In the Piraeus. Fore and mainmasts 
struck, other spars damaged, and two 
seamen stunned. 

Gulf of Foz. Foremast and main-topmast 
damaged, two men wounded, and many 
experienced electrical shocks. 

Off Toulon. Mainmast ruined, mizen- 
mast shattered, and the whole of the 
spars damaged. One man killed and 
several scorched. (On going on board 
this ship soon afterwards, I was told by 
Lieutenant Lord Napier — a warm advo- 
cate for conductors — that many men 
were slightly affected by the electric 
agency.) 

Off Corfu. Slight damage to the spars 
and gear. Several men knocked down, 
one killed on the spot, one died soon 
after. 

Gulf of Lyons. Main-topmast rent by the 
lightning, and the mainmast slightly 
damaged. 

At anchor off the Ehone. Main-topmast 
split in pieces, and mainmast damaged. 
Obliged to return to Port Mahon, and 
thereby weaken the fleet under Sir 
Edward Pellew. 

At Smyrna. Main-topmast and topgallant- 
mast destroyed, and mainmast wounded. 
Several men hurt. Ship obliged to go 
to Malta to refit. 

Gibraltar. Foremast shivered from the 
truck to the deck, and set on fire. 
Several men struck down. Other spars, 
and several sails, greatly injured. (See 
my letter to the Lightning Committee, 
page 303.) 

Archipelago. Mainmast much damaged, 
and three men hurt. Wrecked shortly 
afterwards. 

Off Tavolaro. Fore and mainmasts 
struck; main-royal burned. One man 
killed and four wounded. 



CASUALTIES BY LIGHTNING. 



307 



Name. 
POMPEE . . . 



Guns. 

80 



74 



Queen . . . 

Redpole 10 

Repulse 74 

Resistance . ... 44 

Royal George ... 100 



San Josef . . 



Scipion . . . 



Sultan . . 



Swiftsube 



112 



74 



74 



Union 



Unite 



9 8 



36 



Warrior 



Ville de Paris 



Date. Remarks. 

Oct. 1812 . ... Gulf of Lyons. Fore and main-topmasts 
disabled, main-topgallant-mast splint- 
ered. One man killed, three wounded, 
and several stunned. 

March, 1815 ... Messina harbour. Main-topmast destroyed, 
mainmast damaged, and main-deck 
beam injured. Obliged to return to 
Malta. (See my letter to the Committee, 
page 303.) 

Oct. 1822 . ... Corfu. Main-topgallant-mast injured, and 
one man partially deprived of sight. 

April, 1810 . ... Coast of Catalonia. Ship struck twice. 
Mainmast splintered from the truck to 
the deck. Seven seamen and a boy killed, 
three mortally wounded, and ten more 
or less hurt. 

June, 1811 . ... OffGorgona. Mainmast damaged and set 
on fire ; main-topmast and topgallant 
mast destroyed. Two or three bulk-heads 
smashed. 

Sept. 1813 . ... Off Toulon. Particulars not ascertained 
from the log-book ; but many men 
knocked down, and others stunned. 

Sept. 1813 . ... Mouth of the Rhone. Main-topmast and 
topgallant-mast shivered, and some gear 
injured. Deck covered with splinters 
and chips. 

Aug. 1813 . ... Off Toulon. Main-topmast shivered, and 
mainmast damaged. Obliged to quit 
the fleet to refit. 

Sept. 1812 . ... Off Tavolara, Sardinia. Mainmast, top- 
mast, and topgallant-mast split in pieces, 
and some gear set on fire. She had 
been struck off Mahon before this, when 
seven men were killed and three wounded 
whilst furling the jib. 

Sept. 1813 . ... At anchor off the Rhone. Main-topmast 
shivered to pieces, and several men 
much affected by the electric agency. 
(An officer assured me that ' a very 
little more might have created a panic.') 

Sept. 1813 . ... Off Toulon. Main-topmast shivered in 
pieces, and much gear damaged. A 
marine had his sight injured, and several 
men were stunned. 

June, 1811 . ... Off Gorgona, in company with the Ajax 
and Resistance {which see above). Fore and 
main-masts ruined, upper spars shivered 
in splinters. Many men badly hurt, and 
one lost overboard. 

Aug. 1810 . ... At Messina. Ship sharply struck, but 
particulars not ascertained. (Captain 
Spranger told me it was an alarming 
shock.) 

Oct. 1811 . ... Off Toulon. Mainmast shivered and ruined 
from the truck to the deck, the rigging 
damaged, five men hurt, and much other 
damage. (In the Rodney, we were close 
to this ship, when the accident oc- 
curred.) 



x 2 



308 



RESULTS BY SIR W. SNOW HARRIS. 



Ratio per 
mensem. 



Times of 
liability. 



These are the casualties of a comparatively short space 
of time, and which happened to ships with which I was 
acquainted ; but had I had leisure for a further examination 
of the log-books at the Admiralty, I could probably have given 
more. Sir W. S. Harris, taking a larger range, has arrived 
at some very important results ; and he kindly handed me 
the following details, deduced from sixty-five vessels struck 
by lightning in the Mediterranean : — 



Months. 
January 
February 
March . 
April 
May 
June 



Ships struck. 

. 7 
. 6 



Months. 
July 
August 
September 
October 
November 
December . 



Ships struck. 

. 3 

. 4 

. 11 

. 10 

. 6 

. 5 



And the times of being struck, he thus tabulates, the hours 
in the following enumeration being inclusive : — 

Hours. Vessels struck. 

12 a.m. to 12 p.m 27 

12 p.m. to 12 a.m 45 

6 a.m. to 6 p.m 37 

6 p.m. to 6 a.m 33 

12 a.m. to 6 p.m 14 

12 p.m. to 6 a.m 21 

6 a.m. to 12 a.m 29 

6 p.m. to 12 p.m 15 

From these elaborated results, it appears that liability 
to lightning is greatest in the autumnal months ; and that 
about three-tenths of the whole number of cases have occurred 
between midnight and sunrise. But it is also evident, that 
the chance of damage is greatest between sunrise and noon, 
upwards of four-tenths occurring in that quarter of the day ; 
and least between mid-day and sunset. By a laborious in- 
vestigation, Sir William also arrived at the following general 
deductions : — 

The liability of lightning to strike on any given point appears to be as 
follows : — 

In 2 out of 3 times it strikes upon the topgallant-mast or highest point. 
1 in 5 „ „ topmast or next highest point. 

1 in 7 ,, ,, lower mast or next highest point. 

1 in 50 „ ,, hull directly. 



RESULTS BY SIR W. SNOW HARRIS, 309 

From this it may be inferred, that the electrical discharge is occa- other de- 
sionally determined towards ships in directions more or less oblique to the ductions. 
masts and hull. 

The liability of lightning to fall on one or more of the masts simulta- 
neously, is as follows : — 

In 2 out of 3 instances, a ship is struck by lightning on the mainmast. 
1 in 5 times ,, ,, foremast. 

1 in 20 „ ,, ,, mizen-mast. 

1 in 200 ,, ,, ,, jib-boom. 

1 in 6 instances the yards and sails are struck together with the masts. 

A ship may be struck by lightning on the fore and mainmasts about 
the same time, or on the main and mizen-masts at the same time, or even 
on all three masts simultaneously, but in no case on the fore and mizen- 
masts simultaneously, independent of the mainmast. 

In such cases lightning has fallen on the fore and mainmasts together, iu 
about once in 20 times ; on the main and mizen-masts together, once in 40 
times ; on all the masts, once in about 200 times. 

During the progress of my inquiries and experiences, permanent 
Harris's permanent lightning-conductors had not been in- con uc ors ' 
vented, or I should have eagerly embraced his beautiful 
principle. But I cannot better close this section than by 
giving the opinion of Captain Robert Fitzroy thereupon. 
' During the five years the Beagle was occupied in her 
voyage, she was frequently exposed to lightning, but never 
received the slightest damage, although supposed to have 
been struck by it on at least two occasions, when — at the 
instant of a vivid flash of lightning, accompanied by a crash- 
ing peal of thunder — a hissing sound was heard on the 
masts ; and a strange, though very slightly tremulous motion 
in the ship indicated that something unusual had happened/ 



310 



PART IV. 

OF THE SURVEYS AND GEOGKAPHICAL INVESTI- 
GATIONS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. 



§ 1. Early Ages. 



Archaic 
notices. 



Jacob. 



A MONG the indefinite traces of the early origin of navi- 
■£*- gation, it is perceptible that maritime commercial inter- 
course of one nation with another on a considerable scale first 
took place on the shores of the Mediterranean ; and to the 
spirit and enterprise of the Phoenicians, or Canaanites, must 
probably be assigned the merit of being the primaeval traders, 
a consequence of their progressive steps in civilization. Un- 
fortunately, this great people have not transmitted any 
writings to us, but their merchants are mentioned in Scrip- 
ture as equal to princes, and it is clear that for many ages 
they had no rivals in navigation; whence they acquired a 
high degree of opulence while the rights and duties of com- 
munity were still only dawning in Greece. It is probable 
tha{ the Phoenicians supplied the Hebrews and Semitic 
people with foreign commodities, for there must have been 
a taste for inland traffic in Palestine. This is shown in the 
only authentic history of that very remote period which 
has descended to us ; wherein the existence of early caravan- 
traffic is exemplified in the sale of Joseph by his brethren. 
But as to trading by sea — though express allusion to such 
intercourse is made in the death-bed prophecy of Jacob to 
Zebulon (Genesis, xlix. 13), about 1700 years before our 
era — it was so long before the Hebrews became sailors, that 



PRIMITIVE STEPS. 311 

there is no distinct indication of international sea-commerce 
before the time of Solomon, and even his fleets were navi- 
gated by, and perhaps hired from, the men of Tyre. Mean- 
time, the Egyptians, from a superstitious aversion to venture 
afloat, took an utter dislike to all maritime expeditions. 

The Phoenicians, though deprived of a part of their Phoenician 

, x . n trade and 

territory by J osnua, are seen in various fragments ot ancient wealth, 
writers, not only to have traded with Cyprus, Rhodes, 
Greece, Sardinia, Gaul, and Spain, but also to have ven- 
tured beyond the Pillars of Hercules 1250 years before 
Christ ; and the extent of their undertakings is well shown, 
in the enumeration of the goods and articles which consti- 
tuted the riches of Tyre in Ezekiel's time (b.c. 500). Ezekiei. 
Thenceforward the spirit of commerce was lighted up in 
Carthage, Greece, and Rome : extending to their colonies, 
and the barbarian nations around the inner sea; where it 
flourished, though under many vicissitudes, through the 
classic and middle ages, and from them to the present 
times. But this torrent of commercial prosperity has sub- 
sided to a gentle stream: in other words, from having 
engrossed and monopolized the trade of all the ports of the 
then known world, it has spread over the whole globe, fostered 
by the progress of art, science, and civilization. The dis- change of 
covery and colonization of the magnificent continents of 
America, and the opening of the ocean- route to India, pro- 
duced an important change in the commercial intercourse 
between Europe and the East, as well as a great increase 
in its magnitude, by avoiding the enormous cost of con- 
veying by land the commodities of India to the shores 
of a sea where neither periodical winds, nor available cur- 
rents, offer facilities for expeditious navigation. The route 
by sea superseded the traffic by land, and revolutionized the 
intercommunication of the whole world ; so that the impor- 
tant trade which had passed for nearly .3000 years through 
the Mediterranean, collapsed to nearly its present state. 

It will hence be seen, that as the metre internum was Remark. 



commerce 



312 



JOSHUA'S SPIES. 






Early sur- 
veys. 



Moses. 



Joshua. 



Homer. 



so long and unceasingly traversed by triremes, galleys, 
argosies, and every description of shipping which war or 
commerce demanded, the wish for an accurate know- 
ledge of its coasts and harbours would gather strength 
from necessity, so as to be continually more and more 
desirable ; and accordingly, from the earliest dawn of nau- 
tical and geographical efforts, directions for the coasting 
navigation of the Mediterranean have been collected and 
evulgated. It will, therefore, be of interest to cast a glance 
over the successive steps by which an advance has been 
made from primitive efforts to our present approximate 
perfection ; more especially as no other portion of the globe 
was examined through so many ages — insomuch that it 
may fairly be reiterated — 

Nullum est sine nomine saxum. 

Charts, or delineations resembling them, however rude, 
were probably coeval with the earliest navigation of those 
shores, and the primitive essays of geographical delineation. 
Moses, so far back as 1500 years before our era, laid down 
with considerable precision, the boundaries, mountains, 
cities, and towns in the Holy Land: and after him, his 
successor, Joshua, despatched some selected men especially 
appointed, to gather such information as to form an intel- 
ligible report of the principal features of the country. 
' Go and walk through the land/ said the son of Nun, ' and 
describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast 
lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh/ It may be assumed 
that the Hebrews had acquired this branch of knowledge 
during their Egyptian bondage, since it is known to have 
been cultivated immemorially in the valley of the Nile, 
but especially in Upper Egypt: and Apollonius Rhodius 
expressly states, that the Argonauts — upwards of 1200 
years before our era — derived their hydrography from the 
same source. The geographical information of the Greeks 
in the time of Homer (about B.C. 900) may be inferred 
from his writings, by which we find that he knew something 



HOMER AND HESIOD. 313 

of Egypt and Lybia, and the Erembi, or Arabs ; but bis 
knowledge was only general, except among the Cyclades, 
and their immediate neighbourhood. In his description of 
the shield of Achilles, the earth was figured as a disc sur- 
rounded by a flowing ocean (literally river-ocean), like an 
egg in a vessel of water; or Job's c thick darkness a swad- 
dling band for it' (xxxviii. 9). Some imagine that 
these waters were only intended to represent the Mediter- 
ranean, because the stars described represent its situation 
in the northern hemisphere. 

From Hesiod some geographical hints are obtained, Hesiod. 
by which a further trace of knowledge will be observed. 
In his time the centre of Greece was considered as the 
centre of the earth, and Sicily was so distant, as only to be 
just known as the land of wonders; while to the north all 
was fable beyond the Euxine ; and such was the state of 
Mediterranean navigation, that none but pirates ventured, 
at the risk of their lives, to steer directly across from Crete 
to Lybia. Thucydides (I. 3 & 4) asserts that it was not till Thucydidea. 
the use of the sea had opened free communication among 
them, that the Greeks ever acted in joint confederacy, and 
that the Trojan war was the first instance of such union: 
yet he adds that Minos was master of a navy, with which 
he cleared the Cyclades of pirates, for the more secure con- 
veyance of his own tributes. Now, though these sea-rovers 
were wont to land and surprise unfortified places and scat- 
tered villages, there must also have been laden vessels to 
rob. However, from the siege of Troy, it seems that the 
Mediterranean was common and open to all men, till the 
time of the Emperor Justinian; whence it was, that the 
Roman laws granted an action against any person who 
should molest another in the free navigation and fishing 
therein. 

The Greeks extended their practical geography by the Tho Greeks, 
system of colonization, and their maritime movements were 
aided by the sea-cards of the Phoenicians; they appear 



314 CLASSIC SURVEYS. 

however, to have soon surpassed their teachers, by intro- 
ducing regularity into the pursuit, and establishing it upon 

Thaies. stable principles. Thales taught the sphericity of the earth ; 

Anaximan- and his disciple, Anaximander, the Milesian, is considered 

der. 

by Agathemer as having compiled the first scheme of geo- 
graphical tables, 550 years B.c. According to Greek reports, 
he also constructed the first map of the world ; but had not 
the books of the Carthaginians been destroyed, we might 
have had a different account. Herodotus (Terpsichore, 
49) particularly mentions a tablet of copper (x^Aksos- vma%), 

Aristagoras. which was shown by Aristagoras, the rebel prince of Miletus, 
to Cleomenes, king of Sparta (b.c. 495), upon which was 
engraved (svst£t/x7jto) the circuit of the whole earth, the sea, 
and all the rivers: and from an anecdote related by iElian 
(V. H. iii. 28), we may gather that about a century after 
this time maps were used for public information at Athens ; 

Socrates, for when Socrates wished to humble the vanity of Alci- 
biades, he pointed to a table of the world, (ttivxkiov e%ov <yns 
KEpiodov) which hung up, and bid him look for Attica, and 
then examine his own fields there. Herodotus (Thalia, 

First nauti- S135) a lso details the fitting out of a nautical exploratory 

cal survey. . 

expedition, by order of Darius, son of Hystaspes: it con- 
sisted of two triremes and a large transport, under the 
direction of fifteen Persians of approved reputation, or 
known ability, whose orders were to examine the sea-coasts 
and emporia of Greece most carefully. When they had 
reached it, inspected and delineated (asreypatpovro) its most 
important places, they passed over to Tarentum in Italy, 
where the surveyors were seized as spies, and the rudders 
of their vessels unshipped. As Joshua's party executed the 
first cadastral map, and Hanno's may be deemed the earliest 
voyage of discovery, so this expedition may be considered 
as the earliest maritime survey on record. 
Scyiax. A work which immediately followed the above-men- 

tioned expedition, deserves especial mention, since it is the 
very prototype of sailing directories for the Mediterranean. 



CLASSIC SURVEYS. 315 

It was a periplus for the guidance of navigators, compiled 
by Scylax, the Carian geographer, somewhat irreverently 
dubbed Darius's pilot. This work, which has come down 
to us, though in a corrupted state, is a brief enumeration 
of the countries along the shores of the Palus Mseotis, the 
Euxine, the Archipelago, the Adriatic, and all the Medi- 
terranean ; it commences with the Strait of Gibraltar, and 
proceeding along the coasts of Iberia and Gaul, round by 
the Islands and Levant, returns to the same point, and 
then describes the western coast of Africa, along the 
Atlantic as far as Cerne — the last portion being evidently 
borrowed from the Periplus of Hanno.* 

Considering the state of information in his day, Hero- Herodotus, 
dotus was himself one of the most valuable geographers of 
remote antiquity ; and he boldly declared that the Medi- 
terannean, the Atlantic, and the Erythraean Sea, were but 
parts of one ocean ; but that the Caspian is a distinct sea, 
communicating with no other. Respecting the dimensions 
of this inland sheet of water, he says — ' A swift-oared boat 
would measure its length in fifteen days, and its extreme 
breadth in eight/ (Clio, § 203.) These measures were 
rejected by his successors ; and it was not till the eighteenth 
century that the Caspian re-assumed the form which the 
Father of History had given it. Both Xenophon and his Xenophon. 
great contemporary, Hippocrates, made considerable addi- Hippo- 
tions to the physical and moral knowledge of geography; 
but Aristotle's was the master-mind which sought inference Aristotle, 
from all available materials. Thus, reasoning on the hypo- 
thesis of the earth's being a sphere, he concluded that Spain 
must be a place of departure for the Indies ; an idea 
which — with all its imperfections of distance — must be 
pronounced the first suggestion of a voyage across the 



* Timosthenes, Admin] of the Fleet to Ptolemy Philadelphia in the 
Red Sea, wrote an express treatise on sea-ports, of which Pliny has pre- 
served a few fragments. Pausanias, one of the last of the ancient topogra- 
phers, also throws light on the shores of Greece. 



316 



GREEK SURVEYORS. 



Eudoxu3. 



Nearchus. 



Patroclus. 



Ancient 
charto- 
graphy 



Dicaearchus, 



Egyptian 
surveys 



Atlantic, notwithstanding the honour has been claimed for 
that clever adventurer, Eudoxus of Cyzicus. Thus, although 
as yet but few traces of mathematical accuracy crop out, we 
perceive that geography had made a considerable advance ; 
for coasting charts, as well as itinerary maps, became indis- 
pensable to the leaders of naval and military expeditions. 
Insomuch that Alexander the Great, himself no mean geo- 
grapher, dispatched his admirals, Nearchus and Onesicritus, 
for maritime and hydrographical purposes, and also employed 
Diognetus of Baeton to survey the countries through which 
he passed ; from whose documents the writers of the 
following ages took many particulars. Seleucus, one of 
Alexander's successors, sent Patroclus, the admiral of his 
fleet, on several maritime explorations. 

But though we infer that science was assuming a new 
face and form, it is difficult to trace the gradual approach to 
any tolerable success in the art of chartography. We know 
nothing of the style of the illustrations above mentioned ; 
and the inscribed columns of Sesostris, as well as the 
depicted conquests of Ptolemy Evergetes, may have been 
rather relations and descriptions than maps or charts. We 
are told, indeed, that Theophrastus died possessed of certain 
maps of the world; and that Dicaearchus of Messina, in 
Sicily, his contemporary, executed the drawings of some 
coast surveys which he had made in Greece, the plotting 
of which, as Agathemer observes, was bounding the land 
by a simple straight line (to[aw suQsioc aytparoo), wherefore he 
must take rank as the first chart-maker that we know of. 
This surveyor was in great estimation for accuracy, and 
Cicero (Ep. ad Atticus, I. vi. c. 2) thus commends him: 
— ' I have supposed that all the cities of the Peloponnesus 
were maritime, upon the strength of no obscure authority, 
but such a one as you approve of, I mean the geography 
of Dicaearchus/ But though we are unable to ascertain the 
amount of their merit in mapping, the labours undertaken 
by the early geographers, and their approach to truth, may 



EGYPTIAN ART. 317 

be estimated from various fragments of historic record: 
and it is not a little surprising that the ancient Egyptians 
— who travelled neither by land nor sea — should have made 
a trigonometrical survey of their country with such exact- 
ness, that we are at a loss to surmise the means by 
which they acquired so much precision. It is true that 
among their priests was one styled the Sacred Scribe, or Sacred 
Hiero-grammatist, whose qualifications are supposed to have 
included astronomy, cosmography, the chorography of 
Egypt, and everything concerning the Nile ; yet we marvel 
how a man could become thus qualified unless there 
were both instruments and maps. The partial distances, 
by means of which the early writers, and among others, 
Herodotus, have given the complete length of Egypt, are 
taken in nearly a straight line ; so that between Pelusium 
and Syene was a distance of 7° 37' 7" by the ancient obser- 
vations, which differs only T^ T rd part from that ascertained 
by the moderns, which amounts to 7° 38' \o". 

Meantime maps and itineraries were objects of the Roman 

survGvs 

greatest solicitude among the Romans, and that politic 
people exhibited painted representations of the conquered 
countries at their triumphal pageants. Polybius dwells on 
the care with which they plotted the countries through 
which it was likely that Hannibal would pass, at the 
beginning of the second Punic war ; and no fact is better 
known, than that Julius Csesar gave the idea which produced Julius 
the Antonvne Itinerary, in having ordered a survey of the 
whole Roman empire.* Arrian, named the second Xeno- Arrian. 
phon, was employed by Hadrian — himself an experienced 
traveller — to examine the shores and trading places of the 
Black Sea, then considered by navigators to be a voyage of 
DO small difficulty; and the rispnrXouq Eu^iwu Ylovrou — or 



* From the familiar mention by Ovid (Fasti vi. 277) of the globe, ' Arte 
Syracosia suspensus in aere clauso,' it would appear that the Archimedean 
glass orb was not forgotten in Rome. 



318 



ROMAN SURVEYORS. 



Arrian's 
Euxine. 



Vegetius. 



circumnavigation of the Euxine Sea — shows his fitness for 
that purpose. We are at a loss to know how he made the 
measurements by which his coast distances were ascertained ; 
but in the storm which compelled him, after much dis- 
tressful suffering, to bear up for Athense, one of his vessels 
being wrecked, he expressly tells the Emperor {'page 117, 
Ed. Blancard), that everything on board was saved, not 
the crew and furniture only, but also 'the nautical instru- 
ments/ This — should ra (mtv/i roc voivtikcz mean anything 
beyond tackling — would imply that there were scientific 
tools in each of his ships, and, of course, trained men to 
use them. Indeed, there must have been a sort of engineer 
corps in the Roman forces, for Vegetius (lib. iii. cap. 6), in 
showing the importance of obtaining the exact topography 
of every seat of war, adds, ' We are told that the greatest 
generals have carried their precautions on this head so far, 
that not satisfied with the simple description of the country 
wherein they were engaged, they caused plans to be taken 
of it on the spot, that they might regulate their marches 
by the eye with greater safety ;' a duty which would hardly 
be imposed on the uninstructed. The well-known line of 
Propertius indicates that men studied the material world 
from painted forms — 

Cogor et e tabula pictos ediscere mundos. 

One of the completesfc surveys of the Roman empire was 
begun and finished in the reign of Antoninus, and is well 
Antoninus known as his Itinerary, before alluded to ; the mari- 
time part of which shows the want of skill in the Mediter- 
ranean seamen of that epoch. All the ports which it was 
necessary to touch at in sailing from Achaia to Africa are 
enumerated, and how the mariners were to drag their course 
along the land to the west coast of Sicily, before they took 
their departure to the south. This itinerary was drawn up 
with all the labour and skill then procurable, and was es- 
teemed a work of no common excellence ; but it has pro- 
bably suffered from errors of transcription. 



Pius. 



THE SCIENCE OF GEOGRAPHY. 319 

The true science of geography, however, lingered through state of 

it • • science. 

an infancy of unwonted tediousness, since it received but 
little improvement from the time of Thales to the establish- 
ment of the famous school of Alexandria. To be sure, 
Meton narrowly missed obtaining the latitude of Athens, by Meton. 
a solstitial observation in June, 432 B.C. ; and Pytheas, the Pytheas. 
intrepid navigator of the North Sea, scientifically surveyed 
Lipara and Strongyle (Vet. Scholiast, ad Apollon. Rod. 
I. iv. v. 761), and actually determined the summer solstice 
at Massilia (Marseilles) by means of a gnomon 120 parts 
in height, the shadow being 42 parts all but one-fifth; that 
is, the two lengths were to each other as 600 to 209 — pro- 
portions which gave 70° 47' for the solar altitude. Although, 
by its doubt of the spherical form of the earth, the science 
of Herodotus is entitled to but small respect, still he must Herodotus, 
be allowed to have promoted it greatly, from the subject 
and number of his communications : these were drawn from 
his own observations in his various travels, and the accounts 
given by other travellers, in all of which — especially where 
he had the advantage of writing from what he saw himself 
— there is a strong vein of sound and sensible observation. 
But Eratosthenes — surnamed ' Surveyor of the Earth' — Eratos- 

i • thenes. 

introduced a regular and solid system into geography, 
which, though deficient, was yet a great advance : he formed 
a consistent parallel of latitude, by tracing a line over certain 
places where the solstitial shadow was observed to be of the 
same length, as from Gibraltar through the island of Rhodes, 
through Taurus in Lycia, and over Syria to the Indies. 
From the central position of this line, with respect to the then 
known parts of the world, it became a standard of reference for 
the period ; and the imperfect determination of places by ratio 
of climate, which had been widely adopted, was superseded 
by the method of observing the duration of their longest and 
shortest days. Erastosthenes also traced the first approach 
to a regular meridian, by means of an imaginary line passing 
through Rhodes and Alexandria, as far as Syene and Meroe : 



320 THE SCIENCE OF GEOGRAPHY. 

and it is not improbable that his suggestions were useful to 

Agathar- Agatharcides, his contemporary and successor as President 
of the Alexandrian library, during the survey of the 
Erythraean Sea. 

Hipparchus. The next grand step was taken by Hipparchus, the 
ablest of ancient astronomers, who transferred the celestial 
latitudes and longitudes to the terrestrial globe, and intro- 
duced the stereographic projection. But the excellent con- 
ditions thus pointed out by science, were so little attended 
to until the days of Ptolemy, that Strabo, the prime geogra- 
pher of the Augustan age, considered them as perplexing 
and unfit for ordinary use ; while Yitruvius and Pliny — 
whose geography, nevertheless, is both full and curious 
— never give the least hint of their existence. 

Thus the true principles lay dormant, till the celebrated 

Ptolemy. Ptolemy revived them 250 years afterwards, and applied 
both latitude and longitude to such itineraries, nautical 
surveys, and other materials as he could collect, drawn from 
observations which were of course less accurate than the 
principles upon which they were founded : in a word, this 

His merits, energetic geographer taught the projections on the plane of 
the meridian as the readiest method for arranging a map 
of the earth, in which the equator and parallels are arcs of 
circles, and the meridians arcs of ellipses, the eye hanging 
over the plane of that meridian which passes over the 
middle of the inhabited world. These were great strides 
towards the elevation of geography to a place among the 
exact sciences; and in the then state of practical mathe- 
matics, geometry, and astronomy, as well as the defective 
construction of the instruments in use, it was hardly to be 
expected that precision could possibly be attained. We 
may, therefore, rather feel regret than surprise that he fell 

His errors, into many and great errors; such as his flattening-in the 
north coast of Africa to the amount of 4^° to the south in 
the latitude of Carthage, while Byzantium was placed 2° to 
the north of its true position, thus increasing the breadth 



PTOLEMY'S GRAVE ERROR. 321 

of that very sea where we should expect his greatest accu- 
racy. Nor was this all: for the extreme length of the 
Mediterranean was carried to upwards of 20° beyond its 
real limits. Ptolemy trusted, it seems, chiefly to Marinus Marinus of 
of Tyre, as able a geographer as ignorance of astronomy yre ' 
permitted, but still a broken reed to lean upon ; and though 
he adopted the Tyrian's division of space into degrees and 
their parts, he had an erroneous system of projection and 
graduation. After his time there was a long period barren 
in discovery and commercial enterprise, and his geography 
was the standard guide until long after the revival of 
learning. As Ptolemy assigned 700 stadia for a degree of 
latitude, his errors were not so great in that ordinate as in 
his attempts at longitude: yet it should not be forgotten 
that his gravest mistake, in bringing China near to Europe, 
proved eventually, as was remarked by D'Anville, the D'Anviiie's 
efficient cause of the greatest discovery of the moderns, by 
leading Columbus to reckon upon sixty degrees less than 
the real distance from Spain to India. But was not Aris- 
totle (see page 315) the true precursor? 

As the ancients possessed no means for critically strabo. 
measuring horizontal angles, and were unaided by the 
compass and chronometer, correctness in great distances 
was unattainable. On this account, while the eastern 
portion of the Mediterranean approached a tolerable degree 
of truthfulness, the relative positions and forms of the 
western shores are surprisingly erroneous. Strabo, a philo- 
sophical, rather than a scientific geographer, set himself, 
says the scholiast, to rectify the errors of Eratosthenes — ' but 
Strabo made more mistakes than he :' and though he drew 
a much better contour of the Mediterranean, yet he distorted 
the western parts by placing Massilia 13|° to the south of 
Byzantium, instead of 2£° to the north of that city. Strabo strabo-s ca- 
had a good education ; still he seems to have possessed a pac ' y ' 
very moderate share of astronomical knowledge, and was 
not so good a mathematician as his long residence at 

Y 



322 



STRABO. 



Strabo's 
travels. 



Ptolemy. 



Value of 
his geo 
graphy. 



Alexandria ought to have made him. In describing the 
countries which he himself had visited, he is generally very 
accurate, save where he relies upon Homer; and that a 
large portion of his work resulted from his own observation, 
is shown by a passage in the second book, where he says — 

I shall accordingly describe partly the lands and seas which I have 
travelled through myself, partly what I have found credible in those who 
have given me information orally or by writing. Westwards I have travelled 
from Armenia to the parts of Tyrrhenia adjacent to Sardinia ; towards the 
south, from the Euxine {near which he was born) to the borders of Ethiopia. 
And perhaps there is not one among those who have written geographies, 
who has visited more places than I have between these limits. 

Although Amurath III., about A.D. 1580, caused 
observations to be made which reduced the latitude of 
Byzantium to 41 J°, and the error in the position of Car- 
thage was noticed in 1625, it may be said that Ptolemy's 
gross inaccuracies were continued upon maps till the 
middle of the seventeenth century, even Sanson's being 
15° in excess in the length of the Mediterranean; though 
it was soon afterwards curtailed by the observations of M. 
de Chazelles.* Among the materials used by Ptolemy in 
composing his geographical system, it must be recollected 
that the itinerary measures of the surveyed Roman pro- 
vinces usually exceeded the truth ; since many of the docu- 
ments were supplied by men of limited acquirements even 
in that day. In thus extracting matter from shallow com- 
putations and textual errors, besides giving the incongruous 
mass of details an approach to the solidity and unity of a 
mathematical basis, surely the labour of Ptolemy, with ' all 
its imperfections on its head/ was a welcome and valuable 
gift to his contemporaries, and also to posterity. The first 



* In the ninth canto of the Paradiso, Dante describes this Valley 
of Waters as winding between the discordant shores (tra discordanti liti) of 
Europe and Africa, and assigns its length by astronomical tokens ; it being, 
he says, noon in Palestine when the sun is rising in the Strait of Gibraltar. 
He also, in the twenty-sixth canto of the Inferno, mentions the Pillars of 
Hercules as boundaries not to be passed — 

' Accioche l'uom piu oltre non si metta.' 



PTOLEMY'S MAPS. 323 

authentic maps, deserving the name, with which we are 
acquainted, are those found in the early MSS. of his Agatno- 

. . djemon. 

geography, originally drawn by Agathodaamon, an Alexan- 
drian map-maker, who lived in the fifth century; of these 
there is a splendid copy in the British Museum, of appa- 
rently about the year 1350, which formerly belonged to M. 
de Talleyrand. These appear to have been copied in the 
editions of 1462 and 1482, and thus was preserved the 
outline of the Mediterranean which had been received as 
accurate by geographers from A.D. 150 downwards. They 
were certainly indifferently drawn, but at all events their Theodosian 

map. 

various relations are better expressed than in the Theodosian 
map, a valuable painted itinerary better known as the 
Peutingerian Table, now preserved in the imperial library 
at Vienna: it was intended, it seems, rather to show the high 
roads in the empire than the sea-shores. In it the Medi- 
terranean is so reduced in breadth, that it resembles a long 
canal, and the site, form, and dimensions of its isles are 
displaced and disfigured ; yet the artist must have flourished 
seventy or eighty years after Agathodaemon. 

These remarks may be illustrated by giving a direct Ancient 

• • observa- 

view of the reductions of the ancient measurements, from tions. 
three of the principal stations in ascertaining the length of 
the Mediterranean Sea ; they being nearly in the same line 
east and west, and in the third climate. The latitudes 
were estimated in stadia reckoned from the equator, and 
are not so violently discordant as might be expected from 
such a method, Eratosthenes giving 25,450 stadia — Hip- 
parchus, 25,600— Strabo, 25,400— Marinus of Tyre, 26,075 
— and Ptolemy, 26,833, as the length between the equi- 
noctial line and Syracuse, or rather the place which they de- 
signated the Strait of Sicily. But the longitudes run rather Longitudes 
wild ; they are reckoned in stadia from the Sacrum Pro- from 
montorium, or Cape St. Vincent; the numbers given by 
Eratosthenes being 11,800 — by Hipparchus, 16,300— by 
Strabo, 14,000— by Marinus of Tyre, 18,583— and by 

y2 



324 



ANCIENT MEASURES. 



Ptolemy, 29,000, as the arc from thence to Syracuse. 
Other authorities for the dimensions of the Mediterranean 

Poiybius. might be cited, as Dicsearchus, Agrippa, Artemidorus, and 
above all, Poiybius, the friend and adviser of Scipio ^Emi- 
lianus,and a man equally distinguished as a soldier, historian, 
and geographer; but as their works are only known by 
fragments and quotations, besides there being some con- 

Piiny. fusion inter se, I have not brought forward their figures. 
Pliny {Nat Hist lib. vi. a 38, Brotier) praises their per- 
sonal zeal in boldly braving fortune on such hazardous 
service. — 'Hsec est mensura inermium, et pacata audacia 
fortunam provocantium hominum/ A curious illustration 
is, however, offered by the above-mentioned authorities : for 
this reduction of the numbers by assuming 700 stadia 
to a degree of latitude* for a plane projection in the 36° 
parallel, and 555 for the corresponding degree of longitude, 

Gosseiin. is mostly from M. Gosselin's Recherches sur la Oeographie 
Systematique et Positive des Anciens, and also his Obser- 
vations Preliminaires et Mesures Itineraires appended to 
the large French edition of Strabo. From the elaborate lists 
therein drawn up, for the different values of the stadium 
under different degrees of a great circle of the globe, the 
following tabular view is adjusted. To this, for the sake of 
immediate comparison, I have subjoined the determinations 
resulting from my own observations ; though in order to meet 
the most probable stations of the elder geographers, I have 
referred to Europa Point, the centre of Syracuse, and 
Pompey's Pillar. The last, however, is very uncertain, 

Alexandria, since the differences in the table are large, recollecting that 



* Major Rennel, and other modern geographers, suppose that the Greeks 
used several kinds of stadia, varying from 696 to 750 in a degree ; but there 
are some who still hold that the stadium was an invariable standard at all 
times and in all countries, and that it was 203 English yards in length, 
which is nearly five feet more than the stade usually chosen. The value of 
Pliny's geography is vitiated by the fact proved by D Anville — namely, that 
he indiscriminately reckons eight stadia to a mile, without reference to the 
difference between the Greek and Roman stadium. 



ANCIENT POINTS. 



325 



Alexandria must have been one of the best determined of 
the ancient latitudes. Ptolemy, who had the advantage of Probable 
being preceded by Timocharis, Eratosthenes, and Hip- 
parchus, used 30° 58' in the computations of his syn taxis, 
but adopted 31° in his geography: his place of observation, 
therefore, was probably south of the Serapeum. 





GlBEALTAB. 


Sybacuse. 


Alexandbia. 


Authorities. 










Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Eratosthenes . 


36° 21' 25" 


4° 17' 9" 


36° 21' 25" 


16° 51' 26" 


31° 0' 0" 


36° 8' 34" 


Hipparchus . . 


36 20 


4 17 9 


36 34 17 


23 17 9 


31 8 34 


38 48 30 


Strabo . . . 


36 17 8 


2 51 25 


36 17 8 


20 


31 8 34 


32 8 34 


Marinus of Tyre 


36 


3 34 17 


37 15 


26 32 50 


31 


41 25 43 


Ptolemy . . . 


36 


3 34 17 


38 20 


26 32 49 


31 


41 25 42 


Smyth . . . 


36 6 30 


5 20 40 


37 3 30 


15 16 50 


31 10 45 


29 53 59 



§ 2. Middle Ages. 

QTJCH was the state of Mediterranean geography before Mediaeval 
^ the decline of learning, and such was its condition 
through the greater part of the middle ages, though their 
maps were occasionally improved by nautical experience 
and popular observation. Some of the learned of those 
days believed that the Mediterranean was so named because 
it passed through the midst of the earth, dividing it into 
two equal parts ; but St. Asaph, who ' flourished' in the sixth St. Asaph. 
century, is said to have written, in one of his mystical doc- 
trinal illustrations, that it was also called the Meridian Sea> 
because it was to the south of the earth, — few of his era 
having heard anything of the actual south sea. Yet Cosmas, 
surnamed Indico-Pleustes, or Indian navigator, had written 
his Christian Topography, at Alexandria, in the preceding 
age, and must have been known to theological writers. 
Though accurate in his commercial particulars, this old 
navigator absurdly considered the whole ocean and seas 



326 ARABIAN GEOGRAPHERS. 

as forming a flat surface, bounded by walls supporting the 
firmament ; and of this ocean he supposed the Mediterra- 
nean to be one of the four great navigable gulfs. 

TheArabian The Arabian geographers, as Ibn Ytinis, Abu-Rihan, 
phers. Abul Hasan, 'Abd al Atif, and Abu-1 Feda, Sultan of 
Hamah, and strictly speaking, the only scientific geographer 
the Arabs ever had — made various maps and plans of places ; 
but Edrisi, of whom I have already spoken as a cosmo- 
gonist, on the whole, was perhaps the most eminent person 
of that school. His great undertaking — Nuzhat, &c, (see 
page 115) — throws very considerable light upon the geo- 
graphical system adopted by the Arabian writers. In this 
work he describes the earth as circular, with a circumfer- 
ence of 132 millions of cubits, or 33,000 miles, which he 

The Sea of divides into 360 degrees. The Sea of Damascus, or the 
' Mediterranean, he estimates as being 1136 parasangs in 
length, from its eastern extreme to its discharge into the 
Atlantic Ocean (Mare tenebrosum), which, on the low esti- 
mate of 30 stadia to each, amounts to 34,080 stadia, or 
rather more than 3901 miles, estimating each stadium at 
604*4 English feet ; but this apparently enormous aberra- 
tion is extremely uncertain.* Edrisi's book was intended 
as a description of the geographical delineation of the world, 
which he made on a circular silver table (ddyireh)] for 
Roger II., King of Sicily ; this was copied in the famous 

Fra Mauro. Mappa Mondo, by Fra Mauro (cosmographus incompara- 
bilis), and by Martin Behaim of Nuremberg, so that it 
was, for upwards of three centuries, the pattern for all 
the maps of the earth. Though this remarkable table 
has been lost for ages, drawings of it are preserved in 
Arabian MSS., especially in one of the fifteenth century, in 



* Prom a memorandum given me by the late Major Rennelh the Grecian 
Trapaaavya, whence the Persians got their fwrsung, was 5468 '7 English 
yards. This would reduce the above length to 3529 miles and 140 yards. 

f Dr. Pococke {nomen venerandum) renders it 'globe/ which would have 
required hurrah instead of ddyireh. 



ARABIAN GEOGRAPHERS. 327 

the Bodleian Library at Oxford, an engraving of which has 
been given in Dr. Vincent's Periplus of the Erythrcean Sea, Dr. vm- 
page 656. In the British Museum (Add. MS. 11,695), there 
is a coloured map of the world of about 1100, arranged 
according to the ideas of the Arabian geographers; in 
which the earth is represented of a quadrangular form, sur- 
rounded by the ocean — ' like an egg in the water/ Here 
the iEgean Sea joins the Mediterranean, which is represented 
straight, at a right angle in the centre of the map. 

The Arabians did not follow the Greeks in their choice Arabian 
of a meridian, as they preferred the African coast to the 
Fortunate or far-west islands. But they afterwards substi- 
tuted the Khubbah Harinah, or Cupola of Arina, the site Khubbah 
of which is still only presumptive, although Abu-1 Feda's 
allusion has been ingeniously tested by the difference be- 
tween the true and the inhabited horizons of the Alphonsine 
Tables. After all the discussions which have taken place, 
the Khubbah may have been an imaginary point ; for Hum- 
boldt, after wading deeply into the inquiry, came to the 
conclusion, that — c the more passages were compared, the 
obscurer the subject became/ 

Marino Sanuto, a Venetian noble surnamed Torsello, Marino 
who published the Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, 
about the year 1320, was a great voyager and traveller, 
and constructed a chart of the Mediterranean Sea, which has 
long been lost; but its outline may be observed in his 
planisphere, preserved in the Gesta Dei per Francos, pub- 
lished by the Bongars in 1611. Though this is certainly 
one of the earliest, the exact epoch of the first proper chart 
of this sea in the middle ages is not known. According to 
Serior Capmani, in his Questiones Criticoe, such was used Capmani. 
by the Spanish navigators as early as 1286 : and he also 
relates, as a certain fact, that the galleys of Arragon were 
officially furnished with nautical charts in the year 1359. 
Yet the very invention of the projection is ascribed, by 
others, to the celebrated Henry, son of John, King of Por- 



328 VENETIAN GEOGRAPHERS. 

tugal. An outline of the Mediterranean by the brothers 
Pizzigani. Pizzigani, bears date in the early part of the fourteenth 
century, when the geographical treatises called Imago 
Mundi had crept into notice. 

Shortly afterwards, various local surveys and descriptions 
of Mediterranean regions appear, and some not at all defi- 
cient in point of execution. In the British Museum, there 
Bondei- is a valuable manuscript volume by Christopher Bondel- 

monte. x «/ x 

monte, in the commencement of the fifteenth century, in 
which the Cyclades and Ionian Isles are very fairly set 
forth.* At Oxford, I was shown a very neat illuminated 
manuscript of 66 pages of vellum, in oak boards, super- 
g. de Lan- scribed — ' Chest le rapport que fait messire Guillebert de 

noy. 

Lannoy, Chevalier, sur les visitations de plusieurs villes 
pors et rivieres par lui faittes — tante en Egipte comme en 
Surie. Lan de gre nre signe r mil • cccc * vingt et deux/ It 
appears that our Henry V., notwithstanding David Hume's 
sneer, actually did contemplate making a crusade to the 
Holy Land ; and as a first step, he dispatched Sir Gilbert 
de Lannoy, evidently a well qualified officer, to survey the 
state and condition of the harbours and arsenals of Egypt 
and Syria. The result is the accurate and intelligent official 
report before us, in which the various anchorages, soundings, 
landing-places, fortifications, munitions of war, produce, and 
supplies of wood and water are diligently noticed, forming 
an authentic account of the hydro-geography of those 
countries 430 years ago. In 1478, on Moceniga's being 
Barto- elected Doge of Venice, a Captain Bartolommeo, who had 

lommeo. ° ' r ' 

made many voyages, and ' trod every rock in the iEgean/ 
published an account of the Archipelago, with wood-blocks 



* There are various copies of this work abroad, both printed and manu- 
script; and some fac-similes of Bondelmonte's maps are given in the Liber 
Insularum Archipelagi, a G. R. L. de Sinner. Lipsice, 1824. The geography 
of the middle ages has attracted the researches of Cardinal Zurla, M. Jomard, 
and Joachim Lelewel ; but the best collection of mediaeval maps, perhaps, 
is that recently published at Paris by Viscount Santai'em. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 329 

of the islands, a sonnet expressive of the features and pecu- Poetical 

directory. 

liarities of each, the ports and produce, with the bearings 
and distance from one another. It commences with Cerigo 
and ends with Cyprus : and entering from the westward, 
shows the various islets, with the rock on which the Nautilus 
was so dismally lost in 1807, adding the following express 
advice to beware of them at night : — 

Sta inverso grieco il Poro e la Poresa 
Fa che de note te guardi da esa. 

At the time that Bartolommeo was making his levan- 
tine voyages, the Mediterranean was also under the exami- 
nation of the great Columbus, whose knowledge of geometry, Columbus, 
astronomy, and cosmography had been fostered by a com- 
mander of the same name and family under whom he 
served ; and his brother was, moreover, a professional com- 
piler of geographical charts. The effects of the exertions 
of such men are discernible on comparing the earlier maps 
and charts with those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centu- 
ries : and among those which have passed under my own 
examination, I cannot but enumerate the fine set of porto- Portoiani. 
lanij now preserved in the British Museum, as they will, in 
all likelihood, remain there for ages most authentic evidences. 
The kind aid of Sir Henry Ellis and Mr. J. Holmes,* toge- 
ther with the liberality of the trustees, enable me to give 
the following list : — 

MS. Arundel, 93, art. 7. — ' Christophori Bondelmontii, Liber insularum Bondel- 
Cycladura atque aliarum in circuitu Sparsarum, cum earundem schematibus.' inonte. 
This is the collection which I have mentioned already; and there is also a 
second on the Archipelago in general. 

Bondelmonte was a Florentine priest, who wrote about 1420 — 1422. 
His name and the date are found by the initial letters of the chapters of his 
work, which, taken in order of succession, form this sentence — 'Cristoforus 
Hondelmonti e Florentia Presbiter nunc misit Cardinali Jordano de Ursinis, 
M.cccc. Christi.' 



* To Mr. Holmes I am the more particularly indebted, since it was 
owing to the admirable systematic Older in which he had arranged the 
geographical department of his charge, that all my incmiries were as easy as 
satisfactory. 



330 



PORTOLANI. 



TheCornaro 
maps. 



Add. MS. 11,547. — A portolano, or collection of sea-charts, drawn by 
Grazioso Benincasa, of Ancona, in the year 1467. It contains five charts, 
drawn on vellum, of which No. 1 is the Black Sea, Asia Minor, and the 
eastern part of the Mediterranean ; 2, the Adriatic Sea, the Archipelago, 
and the central portion of the Mediterranean ; and 3, the part from Rome 
to the Straits of Gibraltar on the west. There is also another by the same 
hand {Add. MS. 6390), which is described by Tiraboschi; in contour and 
details it substantially resembles the former one, but the fourth chart is in- 
scribed — ' Gratiosus de Benincasa, Anchonitanus, magnifico viro Prospero 
Camulio, Medico Genuensi, fecit, 1468.' 

Plut. clxiii. — In this press, which contains upwards of one hundred 
manuscripts of the Arundel collection, is another copy of the Insularium of 
Bondelmonte, written in 1485, with coloured maps, or rather bird's-eye 
views. The Museum possesses two other copies, but inferior, of the same 
work. 

Egerton MS. 73. — This is a fine portolano, containing thirty-five charts 
on vellum, executed by different Venetian artists, about the year 1489. It 
formerly belonged to the Cornaro family, and was afterwards in the library 
of St. Mark's, at Venice, where it was examined and described at great 
length by Cardinal Zurla. In this valuable atlas are contained no fewer 
than twenty-six charts of the Black Sea, Adriatic, and great divisions of the 
Mediterranean Sea, by Piero Roseli, Zuan di Napoli, Grocioxa Benincaxa (sic), 
Francesco Becaro, Nicold Fiorin, Francesco Cexano, Zuan Soligo, Aloixe 
Cexano, Domenego Dezane, and Nicold de Pasqualin. The book also con- 
tains tables of solar and lunar motions, moveable feasts, and planetary influ- 
ences ; and a sailing directory is appended, of which the part containing the 
ports of the Mediterranean closes with — ' Qua compie tute le staree del mar 
mediterano,' &c. 

Old Royal Libr., MS. 14, c. v. — -A portolano containing seven charts on 
a plane scale, executed on vellum, at the commencement, apparently, of the 
sixteenth century; and which belonged to Lord Lumley, who died in 1609. 
Five of these charts are devoted to the Mediterranean Sea and its divisions. 
Contemporary with these, or in the year 1520, was published the earliest 
printed sea-directory which I have seen ; it is intituled Portulano del Mare, 
and was printed at Venice without the author's name, but directly attributed 
to Cademosta, the noble navigator of that city. 

Add. MS. 11,548. — A plane-scale chart, drawn on vellum at Ancona, 
in the year 1529 ; the name of the artist is obliterated. Under the date are 
the arms of Cardinal Giulio Feltri della Rovere, son of the Duke of Urbino. 
It contains the whole of Europe, with the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, 
and the coast of Morocco. 

Spanish Add. MS. 9947. — A Spanish portolano, containing four charts on a 

portolano. pl ane scale, executed on vellum, three of which represent the Mediterranean 
Sea and its divisions. 

Add. MS, 10,132. — A portolano containing five charts, executed in 
1538, by a native of Ancona, whose name has been erased, the inscription 
running — 'I.H.S. Conte .... Anconitano la facte nel ano M°ccccxxxvm. ' 
Three of the charts are devoted to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. 



Cademosta. 



Cardinal 
Rovere. 



PORTOLANI. 



331 



Old Royal Libr., MS. 20, E. ix. — A choice manuscript ' booke of Idro- j jj tz. 
graphy made by me Johne Rotz,' for King Henry VIII., in 1542, contains a 
general chart of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Add. MS. 10,134. — A portolano containing three maps, executed by Canachi. 
some Italian artist about the year 1550, which formerly belonged to Nicholas 
Canachi, a pilot, of Patmos, as we are told on the title-page ; where, under 
a coloured drawing of the Virgin and Child, appear the two following in- 
scriptions : — 

' E chesto Uibro sta di Nicolo Canachi dell' isola di 
Sa. Gioane di Pattino, pillotto di mare.' 

E tovtov to xaprijv tvai tov NtjkoXov Kavaici tov 
Jlarrjvio tij ottov art kl ctI va Aeyopvo. 

The second and third of these maps relate to the Mediterranean and its 
large divisions. 

Ugerton MS. 767. — A portolano containing four charts, of which two 
relate to the Mediterranean Sea ; it is rudely drawn and coloured on vellum, 
apparently by a Venetian artist, about the middle of the sixteenth 
century. 

Add. MS. 5415 A. — A portolano consisting of nine large charts on vellum, Homem. 
drawn on a plane scale by Diego Homem, in 1558. As it is very highly 
finished, and ornamented in gold and colours, with the arms of the respective 
sovereigns emblazoned on the various countries, it is considered to have 
been executed for Philip the Second ; but the arms of Spain, which were 
impaled with the coat of England, have been defaced. Of these charts, 
No. 6 represents the coasts of the Mediterranean from the Straits of Gibraltar 
to the Morea, with the Adriatic. 

Add. MS. 9810. — A large chart of the coasts of Europe, with the Black De Macolo. 
Sea and the Mediterranean, richly ornamented with drawings of figures, 
tents, &c, and it is inscribed — ' Jacobus Veschonte de Maiolo composuit 
hanc cartam in Janua, anno Domini 1562, die x. Octobus.' 

Ilarleian MS. 3450. — A portolano of eighteen charts on a plane scale, of J. Marlines, 
which three specially relate to the Mediterranean, by Joan Martines, of 
Messina, in the year 1578 ; they are elegantly drawn on vellum, in colours 
and gilding. Harleian MS. 3489, is another collection of charts by Mar- 
tines, very similar to the above, but larger; and there is a third {Add. 
Sloane MS. 5019), drawn in 1582. 

Add. MS. 9811. — A chart of the Black Sea and Mediterranean, on a J. Oliva. 
plane scale; it is inscribed — 'Joanne Riczo alias Oliva, figlio de Mastro 
Dominico, in Napole, a di 7 de Novembre, anno 1587.' 

llibl. Cotton. Julius, E. 11. — A volume containing neat pen-and-ink A. Millo. 
drawings of sixty-eight Mediterranean islands, intituled ' Isulario de Antonio 
Millo, nel quale si contiene tutte le isolle dil mar Mediteraneo, &c, A.D. 1587.' 
Add. MS. 10,365, is another copy of this work, written in 1591, in which 
Millo is styled Arrairalgio di Candia. 

Add. MS. 10,041.— The Black Sea, the Archipelago, the Adriatic Sea, T. Lupo. 
and the rest of the Mediterranean, on a plane scale upon vellum, and of 
about the year 1600; it is inscribed— ' May de by Thomas Lupo, in Shad- 
well, neere unto the mill.' 



332 CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECT. 

Cautionary I have been more particular in citing these curious 

remark. > ° 

documents, because a lesson is thereby afforded us as to the 
mischief of an indiscriminate neglect of old surveys, and 
the danger of a blind reliance upon the newest compilations. 
For in all those charts of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- 
turies, as well as in the rare manuscript portulano (circa 
1450) presented to the Bodleian Library by the late Mr. 
Francis Douce, and likewise on the maps of Nicholas Yallard 
of Dieppe, Peter Plancius, and Paolo Gerardo, many shoals 
are sufficiently well-placed for a regardful seaman to have 
avoided them. Yet the most perilous of these afterwards 
disappeared from the charts, until I restored them, owing 
to the incredulity of certain navigators, and the carelessness 
of those smatterers employed by the ship-chandlers, who were 
long the purveyors of the seaman's scientific wants; among 
the most serious omissions, the cause of an awful sacrifice of 
life and treasure, we may instance the following : — 

Cape de The outer shoal off Cape de Gata, which was omitted by Tofiiio, was 

Gata. noticed by the earlier hydrographers, and even appears to have been exa- 
mined by Bartolommeo Crescentio, who, in 1585, surveyed the vicinity of 
Algiers, which city he brands even then as ' infamissimo albergo di corsari, 
et gravissimo danno et onta di Christiani.' In the directory which he after- 
wards published, the above rocks are accurately described ; yet, from the 
subsequent omission of the outer one, we might have lost the Belleisle, of 

Captain 80 guns, Captain J. Toup Nicolas, in 1840. On this being announced, I 
Nicolas, addressed the editor of a professional journal on the subject; and when the 
Belleisle returned to England, Captain Nicolas wrote me a letter from 
Plymouth, 20th January, 1841, in these terms: — 'I have to thank you 
much for your late communication to the editor of the Nautical Magazine, 
in support of my statement relative to the rock off Cape de Gata that we 
discovered on our passage home. We passed it within half our ship's length. 
It was, in my opinion, not much larger than our launch, and possibly has 
three fathom or more upon it. It looked quite green. Had we not been 
going so fast — between eight and nine knots — I should certainly have 
shortened sail and examined it. . . . Our look-out men and every one were 
looking for the rock within us on our starboard bow, when to my astonish- 
ment the signal-man on the royal-yard called out, 'A rock. close to us on the 
port bow!' which was instantly repeated to us by the look-out man at the 
jib-boom end. We all ran over to the port side of the poop, and I at the 
same moment ordered the helm to port, when the rock appeared close out- 
side our lower-studding-sail boom. Every one saw it distinctly, and it 
appeared a miracle that we escaped it.' 



CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECT. 



333 



Falamos 
rock. 



Cassidaigne 
shoal. 



Reef off St. 
Tropez. 



The Vado 
shoal. 



The rock in Palamos Bay, on which a Spanish line-of-battle ship was lost 
in 1796, when nearly every soul perished. 

The Cassidaigne shoal, a dangerous reef on a wash, lying between Mar- 
seilles and Toulon, is accurately placed in old portulani, but was omitted 
by Mount and Page, and their followers. In 1807, a vessel running for 
Ciotal when chased by one of our cruisers, struck on La Cassidaigne, and 
was knocked to pieces in a few minutes. 

The reef off Cape St. Tropez is well placed in the earlier plans, but was 
omitted in many of the charts of about sixty years ago ; and many ships 
have since struck upon it. From the circumstance of the Rhadamanthus 
steamer having got aground there since my examination of it, the reef now 
bears the name of that vessel on the Admiralty chart. 

The Vado shoal, called also the Mai di Vitro and Secca de la Barbiera, 
on the coast of Tuscany, was well marked 350 years ago ; and both it and 
the Melora off ' Ligorne ' appear distinctly in the Egerton MS. 73, of A.D. 
1489. Yet in 1793 we lost the Amphitrite frigate upon it; and so lately as 
June, 1848, the fine English steamer Ariel was wrecked on its northern 
shelf. It was well surveyed by our boats, in 1818 and 1823. 

The AphHco rock off Monte Christo is well marked by Benincasa and others, Aphrico 
but omitted by the first compilers of the general Quarter Waggoner. Several rock, 
ships have struck here, and a Genoese brigantine was totally lost so late as 
the summer of 1815. 

Rock Porno, off Lissa, is shown on the early manuscript plans, and is Pomo. 
given by Coronelli in the great Atlante Veneto ; but it was not inserted in 
the charts issued by the ship-chandlers about 1790. 

Tlie reef off Cape Bianco, Corfu. This appears in several of the portu- 
lani, and is very fairly figured by Coronelli ; yet so little was it known of 
late, that two or three of our ships of war got aground on it while I was in 
the Mediterranean. 



Bianco 
reef. 



The Gaio rock, between Paxo and the coast of Albania, was also lost from 
the charts ; yet the Venetians had to record the loss of a valuable treasure- 
ship on it, and so late as 1817 two of our frigates struck there. 



Gaio. 



The Patella shoal, off Prevesa, was well known to Gorgoglione and Patella. 
Mesfud, but disappeared since their time ; it was again restored in the late 
war by one of our cruisers, the Topaze frigate, running upon it, where she 
lay several hours, but luckily the weather was very fine. 

The shoal off Cape Chiarenza, named Montagu by us, on account of the Montagu 
line-of-battle ship of that name having run upon it in 1810, while sailing on shoal, 
an expedition against Santa Maura, is well marked in the old works. 

Capra reef. Crescentio's portulano, page 49, mentions that in 1595 the Capra reef. 
Ragusan ship Berniccia lost her rudder on the shoal off Cape Capra, Cepha- 
lonia. The chart supplied by the Admiralty in 1810, had it not. 

The rock off Cerirjotto — on which the Nautilus sloop-of-war was lost in Nautilus 
January, 1807, and 58 of her crew perished miserably — is marked in the rock - 
portolani, and omitted in recent charts. 



334 



CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECT. 



Skerki. 



Sorelle. 



Fumosa. 



Further re- 
sults of 
such 
neglect. 



The Skerki rocks, between Sicily and Tunis, on which several ships have 
been lost in the last half-century; particularly H.M.S. Athenien, of 64 guns, 
in October, 1804, when 351 officers and men, including the captain, were 
killed or drowned, besides many passengers. This danger is also well placed 
in a curious vellum manuscript of 1547, which Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., 
at my request, exhibited to the Royal Geographical Society, in 1851 (see my 
Address to that Society, Geographical Journal, vol. xxi., page lxxi). 

Tlie Sorelle reef, off Galita, on which, in the year 1820, a Tunisian cruiser 
was lost; and whereon the Avenger steam-frigate struck in December, 1847, 
when the captain, officers, and seamen, to the amount of 246, were drowned, 
only one lieutenant, the surgeon, the gunner, two petty officers, two seamen, 
and a boy, being saved. I had given the name of Sorelle to the two heads 
of this dangerous rock — which are nearly on a wash with the water — because 
they lie opposite to the high rocks on the coast of Barbary called Fratelli 
(Neptuni aro3); but, singularly enough, I have since found that the latter 
went by the designation do Soror; see the chart of B. P. Sina, 1488, and 
other middle- age hydrographers. 

Fumosa reef, in Baia Bay. This range of rocks was well-known to the 
Neapolitan and Maltese pilots, and was accurately surveyed by myself. Yet 
when the English and French fleets, under Parker and Baudin, were 
watching the disturbances of 1848, in working out from under Pozzuoli, 
Admiral Baudin's ship struck on the Fumosa : the chart in use was a reduction 
of the large four-sheet Italian survey, whereon — although I had furnished 
Visconti with my coast contour and soundings — it did not appear ! 

Although in this enumeration I have merely alluded 
to the early portolani, without forestalling my text, I may 
here mention that the more recent plans and drawings pre- 
served in the British Museum also reveal the awful neglect 
of our modern chart-wrights, and it was high time that 
Government should take so important an affair out of irre- 
sponsible hands. Among many other matters, the examiner 
will find on charts drawn more than a century ago, with bear- 
ings and leading-marks, many of the rocks supposed to be 
recent discoveries.* The noted shoal off Al Bekur, on which 



* Though not connected with the Mediterranean, I cannot but recall a 
remarkable fact in point. Agatharcides, in describing the coasts of the Red 
Sea, 170 years B.C., says, that at the entrance of the Elanitic Gulf, there are 
three islands covering several harbours on the Arabian shore. Yet these 
islands, lying so conspicuously on a dangerous lee-shore, do not appear to 
have been noticed in any European chart or description, till, after a lapse 
of twenty centuries, they were restored to hydrography by Mr. Eyles Irwin, 
of the East India Company's service. 



CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECT. 335 

the Culloden struck, an accident which, might have occasioned h. m. ship 
the loss of the battle of the Nile, was tolerably well drawn on 
the homely plans of Lorenzo Mesfud and Antonio Borg ; and 
it was even published in Bellin's Mediterranean Atlas so 
far back as 1771. The shoals near the Egyptian coast also, on 
which, in 1800 and afterwards, so many of our vessels 
struck, besides our actually losing the Cormorant of 24 other ships, 
guns — the Fulminante, 10 — and the Parthian sloop-of-war 
on them, were well known long before. The Lefkimo 
shoal, Corfu, on which several of our ships have struck, is 
well placed on the older surveys ; and so is the Gomenizze 
shoal, in the channel of that island — whereon the Bacchante h. m. ship 
frigate lay many hours, and was obliged to throw her guns M 
overboard to lighten her — on which Borg marks one brazzo. 
The bank which tails off Augusta, in Sicily — where we lost 
the Electro, } of 18 guns, in March, 1808 — is well drawn by 
the pilots of the Maltese galleys; and the channels of 
Trapani, on the west side of the island, appear to have been 
very fairly examined by them, although they remained 
nearly unknown to our cruizers. At the close of October, 
1803, the fleet under Nelson anchored at the Madalena Nelson at 
islands, which had recently been examined by Captain 
Byves. When they had watered, placing the fullest reliance 
on the chart furnished by that officer, the ships beat out with- 
out any accident. In the following year, however, a line- 
of-battle ship, the Excellent, struck on a rock just outside the 
very centre of the channel, and two other dangers were found 
in the vicinity of the spot where our fleet had been beating. 
Admiral Sir R G. Keats told me that he congratulated 
Nelson on having escaped so well, adding — ' It is evident, 
my lord, that Providence protects you/ These rocks were 
known to the Maltese pilots, yet might have occasioned a 
ruinous loss at the opening of an eventful war. Again, the 
extensive reef off Marsa Scirocco in Malta, on which the 
Alexander, 74, was greatly damaged in 1799, is shown on n. m ship 
those old plans; as is also the shoal in Carbonara Bay, 



336 CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECT. 

Sardinia, on which the French lost two valuable store-ships 
in their ill-fated expedition of 1793. 

Among a few documents of the kind which I presented 

to the British Museum in 1848, is a plan of the north-east 

Shoai at part of Elba, surveyed on the 4th of June, 1772, by Lorenzo 

Elba. 

Mesfud — 'Primo piloto sulla capitana Galera della Sacra Re- 
ligione Gerusolimitana di Malta;' though rudely drawn, its 
soundings are correct, and the marks for a dangerous shoal 
— since omitted — in the inner channel are admirably given ; 
namely, the inner side of Topi islet in one with point Pera, 
and Cape Vita on with Torre di Giove. Again, respecting 
the rock off Cape Matafuz, forming the east point of the 
Bay of Algiers: on my visit to this part in 1816, in 
shoai off passing Matafuz at rather more than a mile distant, I 
* perceived a breaking sea in the offing ; yet the wind being 
fresh, could take no particular notice of it at the time. But 
some time afterwards, on looking over some nautical plans 
by the pains-taking Mesfud, I found one with a shoal 
marked near the spot on which we observed breakers. I 
therefore gave directions to Lieutenant Slater, who com- 
manded my tender, the Nimble, to examine it in 1826; he 
soon found the rock, and sounded the whole vicinity. He 
could not, however, discover less water than four-and-a 
half fathoms ; and this was precisely in the position from 
the extreme point of Matafuz that Mesfud had placed it 
nearly sixty years before. 



§ 3. Modern Operations. 



17th & i8th TPvURJNG the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 

centuries. II o 

J-^many hydrographical works on the Mediterranean 
shores were published; but they were generally by mere 
compilers, of whom those only who dabbled in nautical 
science, or were known as surveyors, will be mentioned. 
Among the earliest of this class was Bartolommeo Cres- 



ADVANCE OF CHARTOGRAPHY. 337 

centio, a Papal engineer. I have stated above that he was sur- Bart, cres- 

centio 

veying the coast of Algiers in 1585; and having completed 
that work, which was personally presented to Pope Sixtus V., 
he drew up his treatise, Delia Nautica Mediterranean, 
and published it at Rome in 1607. He treats of the con- 
struction and fitting of galleys ; the regulation of arsenals, as 
evidenced in those of ' Genova, Ligorno (sic), and Corfu ; 
and in the valuable sailing directory which he appends, he 
describes several of the above-mentioned shoals. In 1612, 
Francesco Basilicata executed a survey of the coast of Fran. Basi- 
Candia ; and a series of fifty plans of the different ports 
thereof, in well-finished pen-and-ink drawings, is pre- 
served in the Royal Collection (cxiii. 104), now added to 
the British Museum; and, on close comparison, there are 
reasons for supposing that both Jean Oliva of Marseilles, 
and Gio. Ant. Magini, had access to them when in hand. Hagini. 
To this epoch, and these men, we owe our freedom from 
many of the errors and objections with which their prede- 
cessors were oppressed, and especially those which regarded 
the length of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Chartography was now on the advance, both in its charto- 
general and special departments; but the documents then giap } ' 
produced, compared with the works of the present day, 
display many faults of calculation, omissions, and traces of 
ignorance. Still in their endeavour to remove difficulties, 
by the correction of some long-established error, or the 
supply of some new information, our predecessors are 
entitled to gratitude ; and they left hydrography richer 
than they found it. The use of plane-charts had continued 
till their mistakes were exposed, in 1556, by Martin Cortes, Cortes, 
the celebrated author of the Art of Navigation; and to 
correct which, Gerard Mercator had also published a chart 
with his method of keeping the meridians and parallels of 
latitude in straight lines as before, but increasing each 
portion of the latitude with its distance from the equator 
as a compensation. All this, however, was done without 

z 



338 



MERCATOR AND WRIGHT. 



Edward 
Wright 



Pigafitta. 



any fixed rule how to divide the enlarged meridian ; the dis- 
covery of a method for thus ensuring accuracy was reserved 
to Mr. Edward Wright, of Caius College, Cambridge, who, 
in 1599, published the first table of meridional parts for 
that purpose, in his work, intituled Certain Errors in 
Navigation detected and corrected ; and as all charts prior 
to this application were erroneous in the increase of the 
degrees of latitude, the present excellent line projections 
should rather be designated Wright's than Mercator's, 
even although his received some improvements before it 
acquired geometrical exactness.* The supposed know- 
ledge, however, of pilots, was an impediment to the advance 
of accurate hydrography; for most commanders of ships 
placed implicit reliance on their dicta, as if so uneducated 
a class of men were gifted with intuitive precision. ' Pilots, 
now-a-days/ said Pigafitta, the companion of Magellan, 
1 are satisfied with knowing the latitude, and are so presump- 
tuous that they refuse to hear mention of longitude : and 
Martin Cortes, in his epistle to Charles V., asks ' How much 
more shall the same seem difficult to Solomon, if at these 
days he should see that few or none of the pilots can 
scarcely read, and are scarcely of capacity to learne f And 
it may be remembered to how recent a day the marine 
adage of the three L's obtained, meaning that the essence 
of navigation consisted in lead, latitude, and look-out ! 
About this time, many portions of the Adriatic Sea 

viteiii and were examined by the officers, Giovanni Vitelli and Gero- 
Benagho. ^ m0 j> ena g]i . anc i their surveys were protracted and 
drawn by Car. Cappi, in 1630. Between the same year 
and 1646, a work was in preparation which, from the known 
energies of the author, was anxiously looked for : at length, 
in the last-named year appeared, in two large folio 
volumes, that celebrated book, the Arcano del Mare, by 

Robert Robert Dudley, a natural son of the court favourite, Robert, 

Dudley. 



* It is not improbable that Mercator worked from a globe, with rhomb- 
lines drawn upon it. 



SIR ROBERT DUDLEY. 339 

Earl of Leicester, and who, after having achieved some 
daring maritime enterprises, settled, as Earl of Warwick, at 
Florence, when by the emperor's creating him a duke of the 
Roman empire, he assumed Northumberland as his title. 
Dudley was one of the most remarkable men of his day, 
and greatly attached to science in general : he laid the 
foundation of many nautical and commercial improve- Dudley's 

* x works. 

ments, and suggested the process for draining the maremme 
between Pisa and Leghorn, which last he was instrumental 
in making a free port. The Arcano del Mare is replete 
with skilful projects for the advancement of maritime 
knowledge, as well in building and fitting ships as in 
navigating them, and instructing their commanders. It is 
full of charts and plans, of which that of the Mediterranean 
Sea, though imperfect, was the precursor and model of the 
noted French carte reduite : and when we consider the 
kind of materials then available, and the state of practical 
mathematics, both reason and justice demand our respect 
for this able pioneer of hydrography. 

From the works already mentioned were constructed other pub- 
the collection of charts by the two Cavallinis of Leghorn, 
in 1644, as well as those of Nicholas Comberford, of ' Red- 
cliffe/ in ] 657, corrected with a few local re-examinations ; 
and that of the coast of Catalonia in 1650, of which the 
original, on five sheets, is in the British Museum {Royal, 
lxxviii. 31). At length the Directory of Francesco-Maria 
Levanto appeared, and instantly became a favourite leader 
among masters and pilots : it was intituled Prima parte 
dello specchio del mare f nel quale si descrivonotuttili portL 
spmggie, baje, isole, scogli, e seccagne del Mediterraneo. 
Dato in luce 1664. This folio volume was the text-book 
of our Wapping chart-sellers — Thornton, Hack, Gascoyne, 
Page, Mountain, and others — while the contemporaneous 
works published in Holland, as L' Europe marine of Ulas 
Bloem, and the Monde Aquatique of Peter Goos, were 
professedly copied from the Italian portolani. 

z 2 



340 



FRENCH SURVEYORS. 



Maltese 
pilots. 



Chev. de 
Tourville. 



In the year 1679, the attention of the French govern- 
ment was strongly directed towards a more intimate 
acquaintance with Mediterranean navigation; in conse- 
Cagoiin and quence of which, Captains Cagolin and Chevalier, of their 
' Royal Navy, with some intelligent engineers, were sent to 
the coasts of Spain and Italy, as well as into the Adriatic 
and Archipelago. But I am not aware that any beneficial 
result to hydrography followed these movements, unless it 
be true that R Bougard, Mattre de Navire, who published 
his Petit Flambeau de la Mer, ou la veritable Guide des 
Pilotes Cotiers, in 1684, and the Maltese pilots, Olivier, 
Michelot, and Therin, who furnished the first engraved 
chart of the Mediterranean in 1689, gained access to the 
French documents. The Chevalier de Tourville addressed 
a letter to the Minister of Marine, dated 22nd December, 
1685, on the necessity of constructing a better chart than 
any in use, for the navigation of the Mediterranean Sea ; 
though his ideas on marine surveying, and the means for 
carrying out his views, were not very clearly expressed. 
Olivier's and Berthelot's were plane charts, and full of 
faults : ' Dans beaucoup d'endroits,' says M. de Chabert, 
' ces defauts en latitude alloient a plus d'un demi degre : 
dans la purpart il n'y avait pas seulement une echelle de 
latitude, et que sans s'embarrasser de la situation des diffe- 
rentes terres par rapport au ciel, elles e'toient placees a 
peu-pres dans leurs distances grossierement estimees, et 
dans leurs directions, suivant la boussole, dont la declinaison 
etoit mal connue ou absolument ignoree/ 

In 1686, and the two following years, M. Mathieu de 
Chazelles, Hydrographe de Galeres at Marseilles, corrected 
various points of the south coast of France ; which so 
recommended him to the authorities, that he was commis- 
sioned to visit Greece, Turkey, and Egypt, on a scientific 
mission, in 1693. He made numerous surveys, with the 
intention of constructing a general Mediterranean Atlas 
upon thirty-two sheets, and on his return, his project was 
approved of by the Academy of Sciences ; but the whole 



Chabert. 



Chazelles* 



ITALIAN HYDROGRAPHICAL WORKS. 341 

was frustrated by a lingering illness, which terminated in 
his death on the 16th of January, 1710. Meantime, Henry 
Michelot, Pilote Hauturier sur les Galeres du Roi, Micheiot. 
after thirty years of experience, had published a compen- 
dious sailing directory for this sea, which, though owing 
largely to Crescentio and Gorgoglione, became very popular 
with the French and English seamen, and is still in request 
among the coasting craft of the former. It has run through 
several editions, of which I possessed copies of those of 
.1709 and 1806. The Pere Baudrand, the rival of the Baudrand. 
Sansons, had published the Principality of Catalonia, and 
the County of Koussillon, on two sheets, in 1693. 

Nor had the Italians neglected the study of hydro- 
graphy, so far as it was then understood and practised, as is 
shown by numerous documents and volumes found in 
libraries. From 1685 to 1718 the Atlante Veneto — Morea 
— Isolario, and other geographical publications of the 
laborious Venetian cosmographer, Padre Vincenzo Coronelli, Coronem. 
were in circulation ; and they really are depositaries of a 
great fund of substantial knowledge. Some of the plates 
combine both map and picture, so as to convey a clear 
idea of the objsct represented, though often rudely, or 
even incorrectly drawn ; and the profusion of accessories, 
mostly pregnant with meaning and interest, shows that 
no expense was spared in their production. Indeed, the 
efforts of this very industrious compiler were so effectually 
aided by the encouragement of the doges and nobles of 
Venice, together with the association designated Gli Argo- 
nauti, that he was enabled to publish more than four 
hundred maps, with copious explanations of them. One 
of his contributors, Paolo Gerardo, published a volume Paolo Ge- 
treating of the passage along the east coast of the Adriatic, 
and thence across the Archipelago to the Holy Land. The 
rest of the coasts are more slightly touched, and in the 
Archipelago there is a mere enumeration of courses and 
distances from isle to isle. A copy of this is preserved in 
the Bodleian Library, at Oxford ; it is intituled II Portu- 



342 ENGLISH RESEARCHES. 

lano del Mare; net quale si dichiara minutamente del sito 
di tutti i porti quali sono da Venetia in levante, e in 
ponente. Venetia, mdcxcix. ; and it was then ' ristampato! 

Le Pere In 1699, le Pere Feuillee, the well-known and useful 

astronomer, was despatched by Louis XIV. on a scientific 

cassini. mission into the Levant, in company with Jacques Cassini, 
the future opponent of Newton as to the earth's shape, then 
only twenty-two years of age. They were directed to deter- 
mine the exact position of various cities and ports, and to 
pursue every measure for the improvement of navigation ; 
but though there appears to have been no want of theo- 
retical talent, the results which oozed out disappointed the 
expectation of practical men, who suspected that much 
information was suppressed by authority. In the same 

m. d'Abian- year, M. d'Ablancourt published a chart of the strait, by 

court. 

order of the king of Portugal ; this was said to be drawn 
up from careful observations made by the most experienced 
mariners and engineers to show plainly every anchorage. 
M. d'Ablancourt was of French extraction, claiming descent 
from the Perrot family ; and he is said to have been an able 
master in hydrography. 

Meanwhile, the English were not unmindful of Medi- 
terranean hydrography, albeit their intercourse with that 

Charles sea was then on a very restricted scale. Mr. Charles Wyld, 
Wyld ' whose large plan of the road and harbour of Cephalonia 
is preserved in the British Museum (Sloane, 2439, fol. 29,6.), 
made several minutes on the Ionian Islands and the coast 
of Albania, in 1673, some of which fell into the possession 
of the earnest explorer of those parts, the late Mr. John 
Hawkins, of Bignor Park, whose name was not forgotten 

Captain m Greece when I was occupied there. Captain John 
tnorne. Kempthorne, who commanded the Dover, of 48 guns, 
appears to have had an express mission to that sea ; as 
there are in the Royal collection of the Museum, a series of 
plans and views of Cadiz, Tarifa, Gibraltar, Genoa, Leghorn, 
Naples, and parts of Sicily, Malta, and the Greek Islands, exe- 






EDMUND DUMMER. 343 

cuted by him between the years 1685 and 1 688. A large folio 
volume written by Sir Nicholas Miller, shortly afterwards, sir n. 
containing not only sailing directions, but very numerous 
views of headlands, and outlines of harbours on the coasts 
"and in the islands of the Mediterranean, is worthy of notice, 
though rudely executed. But the most industrious, and 
perhaps the best qualified, of the explorers of that day, 
was Mr. Edmund Dummer, who made many local surveys Dummer. 
and views, which were evidently used by the compilers of 
our Quarter Waggoner ;* and for which he was rewarded 
with the post of surveyor and commissioner of the navy. 
This gentleman was sent out in the Woohvich, of 54 guns, 
commanded by Captain William Houlden (Houlding 
according to the acrostic in Chaplain Teonge's amusing 
diary), himself an experienced Mediterranean cruiser. In 
this ship he visited the coasts of Spain, France, Italy, 
Greece, and their islands ; and in the British Museum 
(Royal MS. 40) is a folio volume which bears testimony to 
his industry and observation : it is intituled A Voyage into 
the Mediterranean Seas, containing by ivay of journal, the 
vieivs and descriptions of such remarkable lands, cities, 
towns, and arsenals, their several planes and fortifications, 
with divers perspectives of particular buildings, which 
came within the compass of the said voyage : together with 
tfw description of twenty-four sorts of vessells of common 
use in those seas, designed in measurable parts, with an 
artificial show of their bodies, not before so accurately 
done : finished in the year 1685, by Edmund Dummer. 
The eighteenth century opened with a request from the 



* This is the title of a ponderous volume which was long the ne plus 
ultra of naval hydrography ; insomuch that the official certificates from cap- 
tains and masters, apologizing for making no improvement in the charts, 
stated that they had met with nothing hut what was already in the General 
Quarter Waggoner. In the seventeenth century, hooks of charts were collo- 
quially termed Waggoners — perhaps a corruption from Lucas Jansz Wagcnacr, 
author of the Spieghel dec Zccracrt, or Mirror of Navigation, published at 
Leyden in 1585. 



314 HALLEY'S HYDROGRAPHIC MISSION. 

Emperor of Germany not remotely dissimilar from that which 
I received in 1817 from the same quarter ; namely, for the 
aid of an English officer to superintend a survey of the ports 
in Istria and Dalmatia, with a view of selecting a safe and 
convenient harbour for shipping in the Austrian territories 
on the Adriatic. On this occasion Queen Anne selected 

Haiiey. Doctor Halley, who had already acquired the brevet rank of 
a captain in the royal navy, although there were such men 
in the service as Swanton, Fairfax, Trevanion, Haddock, 
Saunders, Wager, and Harlow, as well as that other brevet- 
captain, the meritorious Dampier, then unemployed. By 
the year 1702 everything was arranged, and Halley departed 
for the Mediterranean ; where he executed his task so satis- 
factorily, that the emperor presented him with a valuable 
diamond ring, taken from his own finger, and he also wrote 
a letter to the queen, expressive of his gratification. When 
re-surveying these parts in H.M. ship Aid, I was naturally 
anxious to learn the opinion of so eminent a predecessor, 

Haiiey's and sought a sight of his manuscripts through my Austrian 
colleagues ; but could only learn that they might possibly 
be found, in course of time, in the gurgite vasto of the 
Vienna archives. 

Jesuits. I n 1708 the Jesuits, under the auspices of their sagacious 

and powerful brother, the Pere de la Chaise, for certain 
purposes of their own connected with Avignon, intrigued 
with the minister — Count Pontechartrain — for permission 
to make an extensive survey of the coast of Provence : 
their prayer was granted, and they set about the enterprise 
with great apparent energy, but the results never appeared. 

Diego Simultaneously with this undertaking, Seiior Diego Cuelbis 
was engaged in drawing up his Thesoro Chorographico of 
Spain and Portugal, of which a manuscript copy is preserved 
in the British Museum (Harl. 3822), illustrated by pen- 

Gorgo . and-ink sketches. Shortly afterwards, Sebastian Gorgo- 

ghone. glione, a skilful Genoese pilot, published his well-known 

Portolano del Mare Mediterraneo, a work which quickly 



POPULAR PORTOLANI. 345 

became a popular standard among seamen, ran through 
various large editions, and is still very extensively in use various 

editions. 

with the cabotage vessels, or coasters. The first edition, 
which I have never been able to meet with, though General 
Visconti of Naples aided my search, was dubbed la verita- 
bile e luminosissima face del mare, by no less an authority 
than Admiral Angelo Emo, the last naval hero of republican 
Venice. The best known editions are — 

I. Naples . . . 1717. III. Pisa . . . 1771. 

II. Naples . . . 1726. IV. Leghorn 1799. 

V. Leghorn . . . 1815. 

The next publication which had a decided run, was 
a book written in 1732 by M. Ayrouaud, pilot of the m. A ) rr °u- 
French king's galleys : this was a volume of Mediterranean 
harbours, bays, and roadsteads, with views of the most 
remarkable headlands, and reconnaissances des atterages; 
which though a rechauffe of all others, with views so 
coarsely executed as only to merit the title of ' ugly like- 
nesses/ was considered by the native pilots to be an excellent 
accompaniment to Gorgoglione. The public approbation 
of this work induced the Marquis d' Albert — who, although Marquis 
very young, then presided at the hydrographic depot — to 
endeavour in 1737 to revive the project of M. de Chazelles; 
but the result of his exertions was the production of so 
bad a chart, that the editors themselves felt it requisite to 
announce, that it was far from the perfection such a work 
ought to possess. 

The next who bestirred himself with zealous activity in 
the cause, was the Marquis de Chabert, a very intelligent Marquis de 
officer in the French navy. This gentleman made a repre- 
sentation to the Acadcmie Eoyale des Sciences, on the state 
of Mediterranean hydrography; which able discussion is 
printed in their Memoires for 1759, page 484. In this, 
after enumerating the defects, he makes a direct proposition, 
' pour former pour la mer Mediterram e, une suite de Cartes 



346 



CHABERT'S SCIENTIFIC CRUIZES. 



Chabcrt's 
first, 
cruize . 



Second. 



Third. 



Fourth. 



Fifth! 



Bellin. 



exactes, accompagnees d'un Portulan;' asserting that all 
the existing graphic representations of that sea were 
wretched productions — qui ne meritoient pas le nom de 
Cartes. M. Rouille, the then Minister of Marine, struck 
with so strong an assertion, appointed M. Chabert to sail 
on a cruize for the improvement of navigation. He ac- 
cordingly sailed, and visited numerous parts of the Levant ; 
but I am not aware that any public good resulted. In 
1764, he again returned to the charge, and under the 
ministry of the Duke of Choiseul, was entrusted with 
another voyage of rectification. But although this cruize 
was an expensive one, the results were not communicated, 
however they might have been indirectly used in correction : 
for A. Drury, in his maps of the King of Sardinia's domi- 
nions, on twelve sheets, in 1765, together with the Republic 
of Genoa, is reported to have had access to all the docu- 
ments in the depot at Paris. Be this as it may, the 
Marquis undertook another campagne in 1771, to fix 
various positions in the Archipelago; on which occasion he 
carried with him Ferdinand Berthoud's chronometer, No. 3, 
which had done good service during M. TAbbe Chappe's 
voyage to California. In 1775, he made yet another cam- 
pagne, with two of Berthoud's watches, and is said to have 
done much good work ; but the navigator was not informed 
how. ' Ce travail, tres-etendu, n'a pas ete publie/ is the 
remark in the Histoire de la Mesure du Temps. Many 
have called this expedition his last scientific Mediterranean 
voyage; but it happens that there is in the British Museum 
(Add. MS. 15, 326, 14) a plan of which the title is— Plan 
du passage de Visle Longue, ou Mavro Nisi, a la cote 
orientate de la Attique, ou se trouve le mouillage de la 
Mandri, leve en 1787, par M. le Marquis de Chabert 

Coeval with the early exertions of this nobleman, the 
Sieur Bellin, Ingenieur de la Marine, et Censeur Royale, 
and a Fellow of our Royal Society, published his Descrip- 
tion, du Golfe de Venise, et de la Moree, his Corsica, and 



CASSLNI'S TRIANGULATION. 347 

his elaborate general Atlas. The latter was certainly the Benin's 
best ' got up' compilation which had as yet appeared ; and 
though the style of the engraving may appear rather coarse, 
still it is equal to the method of surveying at the time, and 
there are many reasons why it should always find a station 
in a hydrographical library. It will be recollected that it 
was to secure a copy of this atlas, as well as to purchase, at 
any price, plans of all the French Mediterranean ports, that 
Lord Camelford resolved upon going himself to Paris in Lord ca- 
the winter of 1798, while his ship — the Charon, 44 — was 
fitting at Woolwich : but that strange step led to his being 
arrested at Dover, and superseded from his ship, on which 
he indignantly quitted the navy. 

Meantime, Cassini de Thury was throwing his grand Cassini de 
chain of triangles over France: still, without detracting 
from the merits and exact particulars of his geometrical 
description, it must be confessed that his contour of the 
Mediterranean coast of that kingdom is both incorrect and 
ill-drawn, conditions quite unexpected at such hands. 
Between the years 1780 and 1785, several tolerable charts 
of the south coast of France were issued from the Parisian 
press ; yet they also proved inferior to what was looked for 
from their rumoured command of official documents. Baron Baron de 
de Zach, in his various visits to that part, between the years 
1787 and 1805, made many astronomical and geodesical 
observations at Marseilles, Toulon, and Hyeres; though, as 
he remarks, ' English fleets and French suspicions' prevented 
his going to work on a large scale. In 1792, the French 
Depot de la Marine published a very useful chart of the 
space extending from the mouth of the Rhone to Villa 
Franca, on a scale about one-third that of Cassini's: this 
chart soon became well-known, but although it confessedly 
was a greatly improved specimen of hydrography, it still 
contained some serious errors. 

During these operations, various surveys had been made 
in the Archipelago, under the direction and influence of 



348 RIZZI ZANNONI. 

Count de the Count de Choiseul Gouffier, so justly celebrated for his 
antiquarian and artistic researches: and several anchorages 
in the Levant were amended by our naval officers — as Messrs, 
Clancy, Kirby, Atkinson, and Captain John Stewart, of the 
Seahorse frigate — though their improvement in charto- 
graphy was but humble. Our travellers also rushed to those 
shores in shoals : yet among the numerous (I had almost 

English said innumerable) volumes printed by these gentlemen, 
though undoubtedly we gather much general information, 
enjoy numbers of accurate pictures, and discuss many points 
of scholarship, still we find but little which bears upon 
exact science; and among the myriads of adventurers, 
scarcely anything is added to our hydrographic knowledge. 
Contemporaneously with the Count de Choiseul Gouf- 
fler's operations in Greece, was the survey of Southern 
Italy, by a corps of engineers and draughtsmen, under the 

zannoni. direction of G. A. Bizzi Zannoni, a clever man, though he 
spread rather more sail than his stability warranted ; and 
who was greatly patronized by King Ferdinand. The work 
was conducted on a very extensive scale, and appeared to 
be worthy of the activity displayed; but the product was 
not of sufficient accuracy to warrant the great expense 
incurred. After years of boat and field work, Zannoni 
published a costly volume, comprising the coasts of Naples 
and Calabria, on twenty-three large and fairly engraven 
sheets; under the title, Atlante Marittimo delle due Sicilie; 
Sicily proper, however, was not treated of beyond the 
Faro of Messina. The interior space was also mapped by 
the same surveyors, and engraved by Nicholas de Guerra; 
and these two atlasses formed the main basis for the large 

Bacier publication which Bacler Dalbe brought out in 1 802, as the 
Daibe. Q aT f e Generate des Royaumes de Naples, Sicile, et Sar- 
daigne. In the year 1798, a chart of the Adriatic Sea, on 
nineteen sheets, was published at Venice as the combined 
work of Zannoni and Vincenzo di Luccio; the last being 
the doge's pilot, and one who had spent fourteen years in 



SPANISH SURVEYORS. 349 

examining the waters for hydrographical purposes. But r>e Luccio's 
though he is said to have delineated 413 shoals, and 410 
islets more than had appeared in any former chart, and to 
have ascertained the direction and variation of all the 
currents throughout what he terms that ' dangerous naviga- 
tion/ I found his work replete with the grossest errors. 

No maritime nation in Europe had, towards the close Spanish 

p i i c surveys. 

oi the last and at the beginning of the present century, 
published so great a series of excellent charts as the 
Spaniards, whose Joachims, Luyandos, Malespinas, Ciscars, 
Bauzas, Ferrars, Espinosas, and others, carried nautical 
science to all the littoral parts of the globe; and their 
labours have enjoyed the highest estimation among the 
officers of our own navy. In 1783, after due preparation, 
a survey of the entire line of the coast of Spain, both in 
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, was ordered by the 
government of Spain. This was executed by the cadets of 
the naval academies under the direction of Don Vincente 
Torino de San Miguel ; and the finely engraved charts of Tofino. 
the coasts and harbours, being drawn from large scales, form 
an elegant collection, in two folio volumes called the Atlas 
Maritimo de Espana, accompanied by a description of the 
shores and directions for the navigation thereof, in two 
quarto volumes, intituled Derrotero de Ices Costas de 
Esparia; Madrid, 1789. 

The views of the Spanish hydrographers were then ex- 
tended to other coasts, and their corrections were as valuable 
as various. In 1802 Don Dionysio Alcala Galiano, and Gaiiano 
Don Josef Maria de Salazar, obtained several chronometric saiazar. 
differences between important stations; and they fixed 
numerous geographical positions at the Dardanelles, Con- 
stantinople, Smyrna, Candia, and the north coast of Africa. 
From these labours the best chart of the Mediterranean 
which had yet appeared was constructed and published in 
1 804, with the following title : — Carta esf erica que comprc- 
hende las costas de Italic las dd Mar Adridtico, desde 



350 SURVEY OF KARAMANIA. 

Gaiiano's Cabo Venere hasta las islas Sapiencia en la Morea, y las 
correspondientes de Africa, parte de las islas de Corcega, 
y Cerdena, con las demas que comprehende este mar, ec. 

SP at n TrafaT- But the battle of Trafal g ar crushed the Spanish pursuit of 
s ar - maritime science ; for it unfortunately happened that the 
only captains of ships killed in their fleet during the decisive 
combat on the 21st of October, were the three reputed the 
most accomplished officers they possessed ; namely, Gali- 
ano, Alcedo, and Chirucco, who respectively commanded 
the Bahama, Montenez, and the San-Juan Nepomuceno, 
of 74 guns each. 

Political events had increased our own acquaintance 
with the Levant, and the absence of accurate knowledge 
respecting some parts of it, was brought under the attention 
of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; who, as it 
was of importance to ascertain more completely the nautical 
resources of Asia Minor, resolved to employ a frigate to 
make a detailed survey of it. On this occasion it was 
fortunate for the intellectual and professional character of 
the navy, that the Fredericksteen, of 32 guns, commanded 

Captain ^y that excellent and well-informed seaman, Captain Francis 

Beaufort. J 1 

Beaufort, happened to be then stationed in the Archipelago, 
and consequently was selected for that service; since an 
officer better qualified for settling the hydrography, and 
describing the venerable relics of antiquity of those inte- 
resting shores, did not exist. This survey, begun in July, 
1811, was pursued with diligence, until it was unhappily 
terminated on the 20th of June, 1812, on Captain Beau- 
He is fort's being desperately wounded by a party of assassins at 
' Ayyas, a bay on the north side of the Gulf of Iskenderun. 
Despite of the interruption and delay attending this disaster, 
the fruits of the mission were a systematically digested 
atlas of charts and plans, a nautical memoir of them, and 
a descriptive volume upon Karamania, of such merit as 
truly to meet the words — indocti discant et ament memi- 
nisse periti. 



SUMMATION. 351 

Having thus given a rapid sketch of the labours of Remark, 
those who preceded me, I am enabled to make a tolerable 
summary of the state of these matters at the opening of 
the nineteenth century : and it will be seen that, though 
hydrography sprung up, as it were, in the Mediterranean, 
and was strengthened by the local knowledge of intelligent 
navigators and pilots, yet our present enlarged and accurate 
familiarity with the waters and coasts of that sea, is the 
result of the improved state of observation chiefly in our 
own times. Witness, among other remarkable cases which striking in- 
might be cited, the astonishment and agreeable surprise of 
those engaged in our Egyptian expedition, in the winter of 
1800; when beating about in a furious gale, they unex- 
pectedly found themselves sheltered in one of the finest 
harbours in the world, the Bay of Marmericheh, which had 
never been heard of by a single man in the whole arma- 
ment. (See page 78). No such port can any longer remain 
hidden on our charts; and now, what with the great im- 
provement in their execution under superior methods of 
observation, a completer course of points chronometrically 
determined, lighthouses more numerous and effective, with 
an increased number of better-placed buoys and beacons, 
daily advances are made in insuring the safety and second- 
ing the skill of the navigator. 

Nor is it difficult to perceive a cause for the state of rrobabie 
mediocrity in which the hydrography of the Mediterranean 
so long remained, especially in those parts remote from the 
principal trading-places, in the constant and inveterate 
warfare between the Cross and the Crescent, in which 
defeat was ever attended with slavery and woe. Added to 
this, nautical science must have been considerably weakened 
by the division of the pilotage into two branches, the 
navigazione di altum, or open-sea work : and the cabot- 
tagglo, or coasting voyages ; the second being held as 
secondary in rank compared with the first. By this rupture 
of what in reality should only constitute a whole, an impe- 






352 CHANGES IN CONSTANT ACTION. 

Causes of diment to progress was surely created. While a select 
few of the best seamen bestirred themselves in the cause, 
by giving their attention to the establishment of the true 
course and distance from one place to another, and thereby 
fixing their latitudes and longitudes, the majority were 
content with lead and look-out, and the monitory dicta of 
the printed directories. To the combined action of these 
two causes, together with political jealousies, and the ope- 
ration of quarantine guards, it is to be imputed that a sea 
somewhat limited in extent, but of vast importance in 
a geographical and commercial point of view, and of 
exceeding interest in various respects and places, should 
have remained for so many ages, comparatively speaking, 
so imperfectly known. 

Yet merit Still, much had been achieved, and much allowance 

was dis- 
played, should be made for the greater portion of what remained 

undone : and when we weigh the merits of our predecessors, 
we must consider them chronologically, for hydrography is 
peculiarly a progressive science, and as such has always 
been so incomplete as to demand a continual correction of 
its errors. And further, the contour of a coast, the depth of 
the waters which wash it, and the surface of the adjoining 
land, may undergo strange alterations within the period of 
even a single century, from volcanic and electric agencies, 
the combined action of winds, temperature, pressure, and the 
whole train of atmospheric affections. These, however, are 
only a part of the causation, for we must add the wearing 
of tides and currents, local anomalies, the works and efforts 
of man, extraordinary convulsions by land and sea, encroach- 
ments of the land on the sea, or the sea on the land, the 
lowering of mountains, the elevation of plains, and all the 
injustice of other influences in a constant state of activity. Nothing, 

hyper- 

critidsm. therefore, can be more unjust or unsound, though nothing 
is more common, than for geographers to condemn most 
unsparingly the labours of their predecessors, without 
adverting to the circumstances, pro et con, in the history 



HYPERCRITICISM. 353 

of each case. An advance towards excellence will pro- 
bably be made in every future age, though an absolutely 
correct and perfect chart can never be formed, as long as 
the powerful but invisible agents here enumerated continue 
to act — complete perfection can never be obtained by 
any work of man. Thus Cellarius, Riccioli, Merula, and 
Salmasius, forgot to whom geography owed its rise to the 
dignity of a science, and were very unduly severe in their improper 
censures on Ptolemy's mistakes, instead of ascribing them 
to the defective knowledge and imperfect instruments of 
his age ; while their own labours are now criticised with 
as little candour by the writers of the present day ; who, if 
they reflect, may form some notion of the estimation in 
which themselves will be held by the learned geographers 
of A.D. 2500 ! 



§ 4. The Author's Surveys. 

U UCH then was the actual state of our hydrographical My com- 
^ knowledge of the Mediterranean Sea when I first went ment. 
to Spain, in the Milford, of 74 guns, bearing the flag of 
Bear-Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats. But of the 
surveys above-mentioned, a portion only were known to us 
generally ; and the miserable charts of Heather, Norie, 
Blachford, and other ship-chandlers, were officially used in 
our ships of war. There was hardly a plan of any con- 
siderable harbour of our own execution, which had sufficient 
merit to illustrate a master's log-book, except some detached 
draughts by Admiral John Knight, and the Maddalena 
islands by Captain G. F. Ryves. 

Being appointed to the command of a large Spanish 
gun-boat, the Mors aut Gloria, on the 4th of September, 
1810, one of the first acquisitions I made — and it was 
through the courtesy of the late excellent Admiral Valdes — 

A A 



354 



MY EARLY RE -EXAMINATIONS. 



Tofino's was the maritime survey of Don Vicente Torino, already 
mentioned. Gratified, however, as I was by the execution 
and elaborate details of that beautiful work, I could not but 
soon perceive that there were various omissions, and not a 
few errors of commission ; and between the date just men- 
tioned, and the close of 1812, I had many opportunities of 
examining the local minutiae, and making additions. My 
Too impii- respect for so really valuable a publication — at that day the 
ue/upon. very first work of its kind — prevented my pursuing this course 
so earnestly as I should otherwise have done : but as even 
that work was susceptible of improvement, I made various 
sketchy re-examinations of such portions as duty carried me 
to, and especially of Cadiz and its environs. And these cor- 
rections were continued, as well outside the Strait of Gib- 
raltar as on the Mediterranean Coasts of France and Spain, 
and amid the Balearic Islands, in the Milford, the Spanish 
gun-boat, an armed transport, and the Rodney, 74. 

Having returned to England, I was requested in May, 
1813, by my friend and recent gun-boat commodore, Sir 
Robert Hall, to join him in the Anglo-Sicilian flotilla, then 
employed in defending Sicily against the French under 
Murat. Previous to going out, I consulted with Captain 
Hurd, the hydrographer, to whom my late contributions to 
his department had introduced me, respecting the state of 
the Mediterranean charts ; and having provided myself 
with some superior instruments, I offered every exertion 
in behalf of his office, whenever my other duties would 
allow an opportunity of so doing. My object, however, m 
thus proposing to act as a nautical surveyor on the strength 
alone of my professional stock of practical knowledge of 
the subject, went merely to compass the construction of a 
chart which should answer the ends of navigation better 
than those which were in use ;* for I had no hope of having 



Appoint- 
ment to 
the Sici- 
lian flo- 
tilla. 



Captain 
Hurd. 



* Malte Brun said he was always in doubt when consulting a Mediter- 
ranean chart ; Baron de Zach found the positions in the Indian Ocean were 



AID FEOM THE HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. 355 

time enough to lay down, with rigorous exactitude, the 
many leagues of coast in question. On this occasion the 
Admiralty archives were thrown open to my scrutiny, and 
every aid was given to my inquiries by the worthy captain, 
as well as by his excellent assistants, the late Mr. Walker, The Messrs 
and his son, Mr. Michael Walker, who is still (1853) 
employed in the hydrographical office. 

From the quantity of documents placed before me on this 
investigation, of the respective merits of which there was no 
criterion, I became impressed with the opinion which Cap- 
tain Hurd and the Messrs. Walker had already entertained 
— namely, that they were provided well enough with de- The hydro- 
tached surveys, but that geographical points were wanted opinion. 8 
for adjusting them to. In the hydrographer's own words, 
he was ' in possession of sufficient documents to construct a 
chart of the Mediterranean Sea, but was greatly at a loss for 
latitudes and longitudes to dress it by \ those before him 
being so vague and conflicting, that he had not the position 
of a headland or a lighthouse that could be depended upon ; 
insomuch that even the breadth of the entrance of the 
Adriatic was unknown ! And previous to my sailing, he 
sent me the following memorandum, as a guide : — 

Our knowledge of the coasts and neighbourhood of Sicily is extremely 
deficient ; and although there are the three observatories of Palermo, Naples, 
and Malta, the exact position of any one of them is undetermined. * We 
are also unacquainted with the true place of the important land-fall Mari- 
timo, which, we are assured by experienced officers, is placed in the charts 



better settled than those of North Africa ; and among the hydrographic 
remarks in Captain Beaver's logs for 1801, are found — 'We are now work- 
ing up between the Sporades and Asia, but can put no faith in the ' sea- 
cards,' as none of the islands are accurately placed, and many are entirely 
omitted.' — 'The passage between Samos and the Formiche is disgracefully 
laid down.' — 'The land we marked last evening for Cape Gallo must have 
been Matapan, but the charts are all so infamous that it is impossible to 
ascertain where one is, without running close in.' — 'We are now off Toro, 
which is placed at least thirteen miles south of its proper Latitude.' — (See Life 
of Captain Philip Beaver, page 154.) 

* Meaning, no doubt, that they had not been officially communicated 
to his office ; and that therefore he was unable to pronounce exactly upon 
them. 

A A 2 . 



356 



THE OFFICIAL OPINION. 



Captain 
Hurd's 
minute, 



Sir Robert 
Hall. 



Faro of 
Messina. 



twenty miles too far to the westward ; and Cape Bon, on the African shore, 
six or seven too much to the eastward. This, if true, constitutes a most 
serious error, as the Esquirques, Keith's Reef, and various other dangers, 
at present scarcely known, lie in the fair-way, and nearly mid-distance be- 
tween the Sicilian and African shores. 

All the charts of Sicily that I have examined are at variance with each 
other ; and, from our having no good authority for either, we are at a loss 
which to select as the best : but there are many reasons for supposing a por- 
tion has been placed by a compass north, without allowing for variation, 
and the adjoining parts by a true one : nor have we any particular plans to 
be depended upon. 

The JEolian group, Pantellarias, Ustica, and Lampedusa, with several 
smaller islands, are not properly placed in any of the published charts, and 
very little is yet known as to their history, exact number, or relative posi- 
tions with each other ; and there are some shoals supposed to exist on the 
southern and western coasts of Sicily, which it would be praiseworthy to 
search for, as many unaccountable losses and disappearance of vessels have 
taken place, at various times, in those parts. 

We have no official chart descriptive of the coasts of Malta and Goza ; 
and as these islands now form a part of the British Empire, it will be neces- 
sary to have them hydrographically examined, and their dangers pointed 
out. The coasts of Sardinia and Corsica are but imperfectly known, though 
we have some fair detached plans of their ports ; it would therefore be very 
desirable to obtain accurate observations on the most material points, and 
to examine the shores as far as they may be practicable. 

On my arrival in Sicily, Sir Robert Hall — who was not 
one of the class, so common at that time, that deemed 
the charts in use ' good enough' — kindly offered every aid 
by suiting my flotilla employment, as far as he could, to the 
proposed hydrographical researches. On local examination, 
it appeared that Rizzi Zannoni's large plan of the Faro of 
Messina, which Captain Hurd had handed to me as meeting 
all the wants of the seaman, was replete with errors, and 
unsatisfactory in its details : I therefore bestirred myself in 
making a new survey of that interesting Strait, although 
my first intention was only the chronometric measurement 
of arcs. My means, on the whole, were rather powerful, 
for a good vessel and crew were allotted to me, and the 
stores of the arsenal were at my requisition. Besides being 
armed with two excellent chronometers — one (Eamshaw, 
825) belonging to myself, and the other (Arnold, 807) to 
the Admiralty, I had also been furnished by the hydro- 
grapher with a 5-inch theodolite, a micrometrical telescope, 



INSTKUMENTAL MEANS. 357 

a sextant, and a station-pointer. My own stock of working 
tools consisted of a portable transit; a 10-inch reflecting instru- 
circle, reading to 20" of arc ; a 9-inch quintant, divided 
by a vernier to 10" of arc, with a stand and counterpoises, 
made expressly for me by Troughton ; a dipping-needle ; 
a variation dial ; a finely-divided circular protractor, with 
spring points ; a 3|-foot achromatic telescope, with an 
object-glass of 2}-inches diameter ; a Gregorian reflector, 
of 5 inches aperture ; a Rochon prismatic telescope, and 
some minor instruments, including a well-poised marine 
barometer, three of Six's thermometers, and De Luc's 
hygrometer. 

The political crisis and activity of that period occasioned 
my being ordered about between Sicily, Calabria, and Na- 
ples rather abruptly ; by which, though my principal survey 
was interrupted, I was enabled to obtain some very satis- 
factory chronometric runs. These were carried to the Ob- 
servatory at Palermo, where the able and amiable Abbate Abbate 
Piazzi always afforded me every assistance; and where I 
got drilled into a more regular system of astronomical ob- 
servation than I had heretofore been able to learn. By 
these means, many of the adjacent capes and headlands were 
determined, and the sinuosities between them were recon- 
noitered as occasion served. 

At length, public affairs took a decisive turn, and, in the political 
summer of 1814, the evacuation of Sicily by our army was ciange - 
resolved upon. It was a stirring moment; and Sir Robert 
Hall having been called to command on the lakes of 
Canada, I was left, with Colonel Robinson of the Marines, 
to deliver over the army-flotilla to the Sicilian government, 
after winding up its affairs, and paying off the greater part 
of the men. It now struck me that a favourable moment 
offered for effectually examining the coasts of the island 
and its dependencies; and not being under orders either to 
join Sir Edward Pellew's fleet or to return home, I deter- 
mined upon remaining on the spot. Naselli, the minister 



358 



BORROWED ESTABLISHMENT. 



The gun- 
boat. 



Captain 
Henryson 

Lieut. 
Thomp- 
son. 



The new 
com- 
mander- 
in-chief. 



The letter. 



of Marine, was friendly to my intention, as were also several 
of the principal functionaries, and I therefore experienced no 
difficulty in borrowing from the government one of their 
finest gun-boats, a large paranzello manned with thirty 
Sicilians; to which was supplied a capital luntra, or boat 
like a whaler's, but larger, being sharp at both ends, and 
double-banked for eight oars. Thus equipped, I prevailed 
on my friends, Captain Henryson of the Royal Engineers, 
and Lieut. Edward Thompson of the Royal Staff-Corps — 
who were likewise waiting for final orders — -to accompany 
me round the island; and these gentlemen, as my guests, 
gave me the only personal assistance I received, aiding me 
greatly in sketching the topography and fortifications during 
the time occupied by my nautical and astronomical opera- 
tions, and assisting in the reduction of the various obser- 
vations. 

A general peace now took place; the fleet was ordered 
to England, and Rear-Admiral Penrose came out, with a 
reduced squadron, to take charge of the Mediterranean 
station. This worthy and accomplished officer, after making 
himself duly acquainted with all the bearings of the case, 
warmly approved of the step I had taken ; and as he consi- 
dered the object of too public an interest to be carried out 
on individual means, he communicated his views to the 
Admiralty. Shortly afterwards, on my submitting a portion 
of the survey to his examination and care, he wrote the fol- 
lowing official letter to the Board : — 

H.M.S. Queen, at Sea, Uh April, 1815. 

Sir, — Lieutenant Smyth having delivered to my charge some finished 
plans of ports in Sicily, requesting me to forward them for the inspection of 
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, I have promised to do so by the 
first safe opportunity. 

I feel it my duty to add, that the celebrated Piazzi, as well as the officers 
of engineers, and all other judges, give ample testimony to the extreme 
accuracy of the observations and calculations of Lieutenant Smyth, and I 
have had opportunities of comparing some on the spot, which fully corrobo- 
rate it. His written remarks, both in a nautical and military point of view, 
are very valuable; and he has the advantage of uniting great celerity of 
operation with extreme exactitude. 



REAK-ADMIRAL PENROSE'S LETTER, 359 

The respectable light in which he is held by all the Sicilian ministers 
and authorities will enable him to act with much greater effect than any 
other person. 

I venture to press the merits of Mr. Smyth with more confidence because 
he was entirely unknown to me, till I saw the utility of his professional 
labours in Sicily. 

The very great errors detected in former charts, exhibit the value of the 
present survey in a strong light. 

I have the honour to be, &c, 
(Signed) C. V. Penkose, Rear-Ad/miral. 

To J. W. CroJcer, Esq., Admiralty. 

I was promoted to the rank of Commander in September, 
1815; but notwithstanding the admiral's friendly exertions, 
and they were often renewed, I remained shifting entirely 
on my own means, and without any official instructions, till 
the spring of 1817. By this time I had made tolerably- 
detailed surveys of the coast of Sicily, Malta, and the neigh- 
bouring islands; besides having ascertained various geogra- 
phical points on the shores of Italy and North Africa. 
Moreover, I attended Lord Exmouth in his first expedition Lord Ex- 
to the Barbary States, with my paranzello ; and when at mouth - 
Tripoli, prevailed on him to obtain from the Basha of that 
Regency the permission by which I afterwards made the 
excavations at Leptis Magna (see the Appendix), and exa- Lept 
mined the surrounding country. These several services 
having been performed under the eye of the Rear-Admiral, 
he again and earnestly urged the Admiralty to supply me 
with proper assistance ; and in this he was warmly seconded 
by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Maitland, the energetic Sir Thomas 

Maitland. 

governor ol Malta. 

In the meantime, a circumstance happened which con- 
siderably strengthened the case. Early in June, 1816, the 
French corvette-gabarreX a Ghevrette, commanded by Captain Capt. Gaut- 
Gauttier du Pare, arrived at Valetta on a duty similar to 
that which I proposed to execute — namely, to make chro- 
nometric runs, for the purpose of adjusting the various 
detached surveys already made. A most friendly inter- 
course was maintained between us, and I assisted in placing 
his circle on the very spot winch had lately been occupied 



Magna. 



360 CAPT. GAUTTIER'S PROMPT LETTER. 

by my own. A comparison, of course, took place; and both 

the Admiral and the General expressed themselves highly 

Agreement gratified on finding, that the mean result of the French 

ofobser- . 1 . . 

vations. operations gave precisely the same position for the Palace 
tower, as that which I had already given in. Such a con- 
clusion was gratifying, although its full agreement was 
accidental; still a representation of the fact was officially 
forwarded by Sir Charles Penrose to the Admiralty, on the 

Officers of 18th of June. From Captain Gauttier, from Lieutenants 
ZlttT' de Lloffre, Gay, and Matthieu, from MM. Benoist, Allegre, 
Kichard, Jacquinot, and Berard, and indeed from every 
officer of that ship, I received the most marked kindness 
and respect; and our intercourse was under an open and 
unreserved communication of instruments, methods, and 
documents. But in spite of all this being well known to 
the local naval, military, and civil authorities, and it was 

a bad spirit indeed matter of publicity, there was a spirit of detraction 
abroad which endeavoured, though fruitlessly, to sow discord, 
between us. Some comments on my work, anything but 
complimentary, were made in one or two of the Sicilian 
papers, which drew an indignant reply from the Abbate 

Piazzi and Piazzi ; and Captain Gauttier wrote the following letter to 
the editor of L'Osservatore Peloritano, & copy of which 
was forwarded to the Admiralty, and another to me, through 
the intelligent M. Angrand, the French consul at Malta. 
The editor says — 

Essendo corso un' involontario equivoco nell' articolo, riguardante le 
osservazioni idrografiche fatte dal Sig. Gauttier, inscritto nell' ultimo numero 
del nostro Giornale, ci afrrettiamo a rettificarlo col publicare la seguente 
lettera, tradotta dal francese, a quest' oggetto dirizzataci dal perlodato 
Sig. Gauttier. 

A bordo delta Gabarra, la Chevrette, nella rada 
di Messina, li 19 Settembre, 1817. 

Signoke, — Nel vostro foglio del 17 corrente avete fatto qualche cenno 
sulla missione idrografica di cui sono incaricato. lo non so d' onde avete 
potuto procurarvi questi dettagli, ma sono stato assai sorpreso quando ho 
letto 1' articolo che parla di osservazioni fatte dal Sig. W. Smyth, che io ho 
rettificato, come voi dite. V"i priego, Signore, di smentire questo articolo 
per essere del tutto erroneo. 

All' epoca del mio passaggio per Malta, io ed il Sig. Smyth ci abbiamo 



H.M. SHIP 'AID' ARRIVES. 361 

reciprocamente communicate le osservazioni da noi fatte sulle coste 
della Sicilia, ed abbiamo avuto la soddisfazione di trovarle perfettamente 
d' accordo.* 

Ho 1' onore di salutarvi. 
(Firmato) II Capitano di Fregata, Cav. di S. Luigi, 

e della Legion d' Onore, 

P. Gauttieb. 

At length the Admiralty gave me an official appoint- 
ment to proceed with my reconnaissance of the Mediter- 
ranean shores: and on the 7th of May, 1817, the Aid Arrival of 

the Aid 

sloop-of-war arrived at Malta, to bear my pendant. Mari- 
time surveying, however, was not then well understood even 
at head-quarters, or a faster vessel, with at least one tender, 
would have been equipped. But instead of this, the Aid — on 
being inspected by the Admiral, the Commissioner, and Her state, 
myself, was found to be in want of several material requi- 
sites for the service she was about to proceed upon, and 
even to require substantial repairs. A partial remedying 
of these defects detained her till the 27th of June, when I 
was happy to find myself in a more efficient position than 
I had hitherto been. During the time the ship was in the 
dockyard, I concerted measures with the commander-in- 
chief for carrying my own plan of operations into execution ; pianof pro- 
this plan was, in the first place, to go to the Channel between cee g * 
Sicily and Malta, and there complete my examination, while 
waiting for the expected ship which was to embark the 
architectural relics I had collected at Leptis Magna for the 
Prince Regent. After those remains should have been 



* In November, 1829, I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from Sig. 
N. Cacciatore, the Astronomer Royal of Palermo, stating that in the previous 
August he had measured a base-line, and laid a series of triangles, from 
Trapani to Maretimo, and thence to Cape San Vito, the whole of which, 
down to every rock and shoal, he found to agree so perfectly with my survey, 
that lie could not but publish the results. His words are — ' Io nel mese 
passato ho mesurato una base, ed ho fissato una serie di triangoli sulla costa, 
e nello isole di Trapani, Favignana, Levanzo, Maretimo, e Capo S. Vito. 
Debbo dirle, che ho trovato tutt' i punti della costa, tutt' i scogli, e tutte le 
innuinerabili secche di quei paraggi, notati col massimo rigore ed esatezza 
nella sua carta idrografica. Io sto descrivendo questo lavoro che pub- 
blicherb ; e con piacere annunzierb che le di lei osservazioni, c descrizioni, 
le ho trovate tutte rigorosamente esatte.' 



meter 



362 ADOPTED LINE OF PROCEDURE. 

stowed in the vessel's hold, under my inspection, I proposed 
Ionian next to repair to the Ionian Islands : to which, from our then 

Islands. „ .. 

recent occupation, ol them, our ships were often sent ; and on 
which, from the utter worthlessness of the government charts, 
they as often ran on shore. It was also evident, that besides 
furnishing a series of geographical points, as stipulated, the 
features of the coast would absolutely demand a re-exami- 
nation ; and that though the Admiralty might possess tole- 
rable plans of some of the principal ports, still we could fill up 
many a gap. And lest untoward events should interrupt such 
a course, or draw me away during its execution, I adopted a 

cnrono- festina-lente method, entirely — so far as I know — my own; 
namely, to take the ship — as much as possible under easy 
weather for the chronometer-rates — to the various ports, as 
normal stations for a principle of mensuration obviously 
simple and accurate, thence to cast angles wherever they 
could be thrown or continued, and to fill in the less-broken 
shores between, by the boats and patent-log runs. By such 
means I hoped to effect the primary object of fixing lati- 
tudes and longitudes, to develope many tracts which were 
all but unknown to our charts, and to rectify others which 
had been imperfectly surveyed. On discussing these several 
points with Sir Charles Penrose, I had the satisfaction of 
receiving his hearty acquiescence. 

Shortly after I had commenced carrying out these 
views, a correspondence was opened with me through the 

Baron medium of Sir Thomas Maitland, by Baron Potier des 
Echelles, a major of the Austrian staff, respecting the 
Adriatic Sea ; the large chart of which then in use, though 
vaunted as an actual survey of Yincenzio di Luccio, was 
absolutely deemed a disgrace to hydrography. It seems 
that, after their military occupation of Italy in 1799, the 
French had been actively examining the shores and lagoons 
of the Venetian territory, and completing the observations 
already made thereon by their countryman, Pierre A. 



Potier. 



THE ADRIATIC SURVEY CONVENTION. 363 

Forfait. In 1808 and 1809 they ordered some detached 
surveys to be made on its eastern shores, under the cele- 
brated Beautems Beaupre, whose works approach nearer to Beautems 
perfection than any that hitherto have been made in that 
quarter. From the examinations then obtained, together 
with other occasional observations and corrections, a very 
tolerable Piloto Pratico, or coast directory, from Trieste to 
the mouth of the Tronto, was compiled by the geographical- 
engineer, Ignazio Prina, and published in 1816. In the ign. Prina. 
meantime, the Austrians — who had previously employed a 
party of staff-officers under Marshal von Zach, a brother of Marshal 
the well-known astronomer, in making a special survey of 
the Venetian states — when they re-entered Italy in 1816, 
recommenced their geographical labours on the shores of 
the Adriatic Sea. They had made a considerable advance 
along their own coasts when they heard of my mission; 
whereupon I was formally applied to for the purpose of 
giving their operations a maritime completion, as well as to 
carry on a continuation of the survey along the Turkish 
shores as far as Parga, where respect could then be com- 
manded only by the British flag. In consequence of this 
proposition, and fully empowered by the Admiral, I repaired 
to Naples early in 1818, and there entered into a convention 
with Marshal Koller, Count Nugent, Colonel Visconti, and Marshal 

Koller. 

Baron Potier, by which I engaged to blend all the detached count Nu- 
operations of the several parties into one maritime work, gul 
and to complete the eastern shores to Parga, Corfu, and 
Paxo. For this purpose it was agreed that I should embark 
with me four Austrian staff-officers, namely, Baron Potier, Austrian 
Baron Granzenstein — Marshal Koller's brother-in-law, Baron poutan* 
Jetzer, and Lieutenant Lapie ; with two Neapolitan ° cerb ' 
engineers, Captain Soldan and Lieutenant Giordano. 
Moreover, an Austrian sloop-of-war, the Velox, of 20 guns, 
commanded by Captain Poltl, was placed under my orders; 
and I was to have the occasional assistance of the gun- 



364 



CAPTAIN HURD, ON THE ADRIATIC. 



Untoward 
reserve. 



boats stationed in the principal ports. To this force, 
Colonel Visconti afterwards added two more officers of the 
Neapolitan staff, Captain Chiandi and Lieutenant Bardet. 

All this was highly satisfactory. But I ought here to 
say, that notwithstanding these shores had been thus under 
examination, the results thereof were not before the public : 
and though a slight outline lucido, or transparent tracing 
of a general chart, was furnished by my collaborateurs, I 
was not made aware of the nature and extent of what had 
been actually achieved by them, and deposited in the 
archives at Milan. Nor did I ever see any of Beaupre's work 
till Captain Gauttier showed me several manuscript surveys 
of harbours, with which he had been entrusted by the Depot 
de la Marine at Paris. Indeed, such was the general 
ignorance of Adriatic hydrography, that Captain Hurd, in 
a representation which he made to the Admiralty, said — 



Captain 
Hurd's 
official 
note. 



Course 
adopted. 



AD the charts of the Adriatic that I have seen are erroneous in regard to 
its eastern shores, except a small Venetian one, which is, however, published 
on so small a scale as to be of little use to the navigator. There are grounds 
for supposing that the coasts of Albania and the Morea have had but little 
scientific attention paid to them. I would therefore recommend a survey 
to be undertaken of all that part comprehended between Ragusa and the 
island of Cerigo, including the Seven Islands ; or, if this should* not be 
judged practicable, that correcting observations at all the principal points 
of land should be made, to enable us in some measure to correct these errors, 
as far as the same can be done by such means. A judicious and skilful ob- 
server employed on this duty, would very soon make us acquainted with 
everything necessary to enable us to form a chart thereof, sufficiently correct 
for all general purposes. 

Not being able clearly to ascertain what my co-operators 
had accomplished, until visiting the Geographical Institute 
at Milan towards the close of our labours, I adopted 
Captain Hurd's statement as a guide. Accordingly, with 
the excellent means then at my disposal, a chronometric 
chain was run over the whole sea, and extended into 
detail by copious triangulations ; copies of which, together 
with particular plans of the harbours we resorted to, were 
promptly sent both to Milan and Naples. But throughout 
the whole of these proceedings there was certainly much 



COMPLETION OF THE ADRIATIC SURVEY. 365 

less of reserve and mystery at the latter place than had 
crept into the former ; my direct application for information 
was overlooked, and it consequently happened that much 
time was expended in doing work twice over. However, the 
object which was steadily kept in view being accomplished 
by the close of the year 1819, I discharged the Austrian The Aus- 
sloop-of-war and the foreign officers ; an arrangement which Neapo- 
brought forward mutual expressions of regret, for those gen- cers de _ " 
tlemen and ourselves had always been on the best of terms, pa 
and for nearly two years they had ever obeyed my directions 
with alacrity and good-will. ' Au moment/ wrote Baron Potter's 
Potier, the senior officer embarked, c que je regrette de me 
separer de vous, je me rappelle doublement toute Tattention 
et amitie avec laquelle vous m'avez comble, et que je me 
ferai toujours un devoir de vous reiterer vivement a chaque 
occasion/* 

Having thus secured a chart of the Adriatic Sea, similar 
operations were continued through the southern Ionian 
Islands, with the opposite shores of Albania and the Morea. 
This being completed by June, 1820, my reconnaissance of Return to 
the west coast of Italy was resumed, and we were busily 
employed on the Riviera of Genoa, when I was suddenly 
recalled overland to England in the winter of that year : the and Eng- 
ship followed soon afterwards, and was paid off at Deptford 
on the 22nd of January, 1821. 

During this time, Captain Gauttier had continued his 
chronometric runs, and he had annually obtained the per- 
mission of his government to meet me. In the numerous 



* From what is about to follow, I should mention that the Emperor of 
Austria afterwards presented me with a valuable gold box set with diamonds ; 
and two of my best stations — Budua and Pola — were marked each by a 
small stone pyramid on the spot where the instrument stood, with this 
inscription — 

OBSERVATIO ASTRONOMIC 

AB W. H. SMYTH 

ANGLORUM NAVIS AID PRiEFECTO, 

REGNANTE IMPERATORE 

l'KANCISOO 1°, MDCCCXVI1I. 



366 MY CONFIDENCE IN CAPTAIN GAUTTIER, 

and unreserved communications which occurred with this 
Gauttier's highly-efficient officer, I found his methods and practice so 

observa- 
tions, truly good, as to call for the utmost reliance on the results. 

On making a comparison of our respective works, we 

always found a fair agreement wherever we observed on 

shore; but that our secondary points sometimes differed: 

thus, writing to me in March, 1819, he says: ' Vous 

trouverez ci-joint la position geographique de tous les 

principaux points de TAdriatique que j'ai fixe Fannee der- 

niere ; vous y verrez que les points qui se trouvent communs 

dans votre travail et le mien s'accordent en longitudes. 

Nos latitudes different bien d'avantage, mais j'ai peu d'ob- 

servations E et 0/ As this letter followed one in which 

he showed me his intention of triangulating the whole of the 

My views Archipelago, and its boundary coasts, it struck me that by 

an easy arrangement we could mutually benefit each other, 

and the correction of the chart of the whole Mediterranean 

Sea be speedily effected ; therefore, as the document alluded 

to was the basis of my succeeding operations, it should here 

appear in full : — 

Ministere de la Marine et des Colonies, 
Paris, le 5 Fevrier, 1819. 
Monsieur et Ami, — Je n'ai pas l'avantage de recevoir de vos nouvelles 
depuis l'epoque oh nous nous sommes separe* a Corfou; je crois cependant 
que vous devez etre actuellement en Angleterre: c'est pourquoi je vous 
adresse ma lettre dans ce pays, le General Brisbane ayant la bonfe* de se 
charger de vous la faire parvenir. 
Gauttier's ^ a * *" au ^ ce ^ e amide quatre stations dans l'Archipel, sur les sommets de 

excellent Milo, Ze"a, Paros, et Naxie, la base qui va me servir a determiner tous les 
process, sommets des lies de l'Archipel a 6t6 me'sure'e au moyen d'un grand nombre 
de series de hauteurs de la Polaire prises avec le cercle astronomique, qui ont 
determine la latitude de chacun de ces points a moins de deux secondes, et 
comme le gisement de cette base, d'apres les azimuts observes a Milo, est le 
Nord 1° 15' 48" Ouest: je suis sur de sa longueur, que j'ai trouvee exacte- 
ment de 57 milles, a moins de 2".* 



* In a subsequent letter M. Gauttier entered into minute details respect- 
ing this base-line, and the several series of Pole-star altitudes taken with his 
excellent repeating-circle by Le Noir. It seems that the final results of 
these series differed only four sexagesimal seconds among themselves ; and 
there is reason to believe that the mean result may be found in the very 
close limits of which these observations are susceptible. 



AND CONSEQUENT MISSION TO PAKIS. 367 

Je vous envois la position ge'ographique des sommets de toutes ies lies 
des Cyclades determines au moyen de ma base : ce sont des triangles sphe- 
riques qui ont servi a determiner ces points en supposant la terre ronde. On 
a calcule pour chacun Tangle au Pole, qui donne leur difference en longi- 
tude, et puis la distance polaire, ou le complement de leur latitude. 

On compte terminer cette annee, au dep6t, la construction de la carte de Gauttier's 
la Mediterranee en deux feuilles ; comme la mer Adriatique entre dans la a ours * 
premiere de ces feuilles, vous m'obligeriez beaucoup de m'envoyer ce que 
vous m'avez promis sur cette mer, que je vous prie d'adresser au dep6t de la 
marine, en cas que je ne sois plus a Paris. Vous voyez que la carte que 
nous allons publier est une carte routiere. Dans quelques annees d'ici, 
quand j'aurai eu le loisir de construire tous les petits details dont j'ai les 
materiaux, on publiera alors des cartes particulieres de l'Adriatique, de 
l'Archipel, et de la partie la plus orientale de la Mediterranee. J'espere 
finir la campagne procbaine tout l'Arcbipel; il ne me restera plus a faire que 
la mer None pour les campagnes suivantes. 

Je desirerais bien avoir encore le plaisir de vous rencontrer cette annee, 
mais je compte me rendre directement a Milo. Si vous etiez cependant a 
Zante a cette epoque, et que je fus contrarie a 1' entree de l'Archipel, j'y re- 
lacherais pour avoir le plaisir de vous voir, ainsi que Madame Smyth, a 
laquelle je vous prie faire agreer mes hommages respectueux. 

J'ai l'honneur d'etre, avec les sentimens d'un parfait attachement, 
Monsieur, 

Votre tres humble et obeissant servitem', 

P. Gauttier. 

When consulted therefore by Lord Melville, then First My opinion 

thereon 

Lord of the Admiralty, on my arrival in England, upon adopted 
the state and prospects of Mediterranean hydrography, MeMiie. 
as time was a far greater element in such considerations 
then than it is now, it became a duty to represent my 
conviction of the inutility of Gauttier and myself going 
over the same ground, with objects so nearly the same. 1 
then informed his lordship of the French operations, and 
assured him that, after careful examination no hesitation 
could remain as to their accuracy. I also showed, that if 
they saved the necessity of my working in the Archipelago, 
it would enable both of us to give a better completion to 
our respective labours ; for there were various points of 
my own in the Western Basin which required additional 
attention ; and that most of the space between Algiers 
and Alexandria, on the north coast of Africa, was hydro- 
graphically a blank. His lordship was pleased so to ap- 
prove of my remarks as to authorize me to proceed to 



368 A CO-OPERATOR TAKES UMBRAGE AT 

Paris, in December, 1820, empowered to enter into an 
Admiral de arrangement with Admiral de Rossel, the hydrographic 
director, for an official interchange of the projected labours. 
On arriving in that city, the proposition was most favour- 
ably entertained by Admirals Count Rosily-Mesros and De 
Rossel, and the members of the Board of Longitude, MM. 
Delambre, Arago, and Beautems Beaupre ; and I received 
a copy of all the French results in the Archipelago, Levant, 
My proposi- and Black Sea, which were then reduced. To my great 

tion ac- . „ . 

cepted. disappointment, Captain Gauttier was in quarantine at 
Toulon ; but he was made acquainted with every step 
taken, and wrote to me — ' Soyez bien persuade de ma 
reconnaissance pour la maniere franche et loyale de vos 
communications, et j'espere que vous pensez de la meme 
maniere a mon egard/ 

Coolness This account is the more detailed, because it will prove 

campana. no su ght was thrown on the labours of my contemporaries ; 
while my conduct in respect to recommending the French 
operations for adoption will also show the high value which I 
placed upon time. Now, it appeared that certain remarks on 
the want of confidence shown me by the Milan authorities had 
given umbrage, and that a letter of mine to Baron de Zach, 
which he printed in his Correspondance Astronomique, 
gave pain to an individual to whom nothing personal was 
intended. It was the system, and not the person, I meant 

Seasons for to impugn ; for, in consequence either of delay or neglect, 
ducti 0n or the tiresome and tedious forms of office, the grounds 
were not communicated upon which the Imperial Geogra- 
phical Institute at Milan was putting our joint work to- 
gether for publication ; and my friends in the Topographical 
Office at Naples were equally in the dark. Colonel Cam- 
pana, the Director of the Imperial Institute, at length for-^ 
warded to Baron de Zach a prospectus of an Adriatic Atlas 
for insertion in his widely-circulated periodical ; on which 
the Baron directly inquired of me what degree of precision 
he might safely assign to the geodetical points thus handed 



MY LETTER TO BARON DE ZACH. 369 

to him.* Not being in actual possession of the means they 
had adopted, I returned the following reply, dated loth 
March, 1826:— 

Vous me demandez, Monsieur le Baron, jusqu'a quel degre de precision 
on peut compter sur les positions geographiques des lieux dans le golfe de 
Venise, gravies sur la carte directrice de cette mer, publie'e au depot des 
cartes a Milan, et que vous avez rapportees dans le viii e volume, cahier v., 
p. 490, de votre correspondance astronomique. 

Je vous dirai done que tous ces points ont e'te" de'termine's en premier Visconti's 
lieu, geodesiquement par un canevas de triangles, qui a e'te - conduit le long triangle, 
des cotes par le Colonel Ferdinand Visconti. Tous ces points ont e'te" rdduits 
au meridien et a la perpendiculaire du clocher de St. Francois de Ripatran- 
zone, d'ou enfin on a tire" les longitudes et les latitudes. En second lieu, 
plusieurs de ces endroits ont ete" de'terniine's par moi astronomiquement, 
e'est a dire, les longitudes par des chronometres, les latitudes par des 
hauteurs meridiennes des astres. Pour vous donner une preuve dans quelles 
limites les longitudes ont e'te" de'terniine'es, afin que vous puissiez en juger 
par vous meme, je vous rapporterai ici quelques exemples, qui vous feront 
voir 1' accord qui regne dans ces determinations faites selon les differentes 
me"thodes, ce qui a servi de controle, et pour ainsi dire, de pierre-de-touche 
a tout ce travail. Vous savez aussi, Monsieur le Baron, que le Capitaine Captain 
Gauttier a de meme parcouru la mer Adriatique; cet habile officier de la Gauttier. 
Marine Royale Francaise y a egalenient fait plusieurs bonnes determinations ; 
or, voici l'dchantillon d'un tableau qui fera voir cet accord: — 

Long. d'Otranto selon le Capt. Smyth .... 16° 09' 50" de Paris. 

„ „ selon le Capt. Gauttier . . . . 16 09 00 

„ ,, selon les triangles du Col. Visconti 16 09 30 "1 

Long. deBrindisi selon le Capt. Smyth . . . . 15 38 17 

„ „ selon le Capt. Gauttier . . . . 15 36 40 

„ ,, selon les triangles du Col. Visconti 15 37 59*9 

Long, de Bari selon le Capt. Smyth . . . . 14 32 40 

,, ,, selon les triangles du Col. Visconti 14 32 041 



* This opinion was asked because the Baron was aware of some of the 
particulars ; and a notice which he published after visiting the A dventure 
in 1823 (see his Correspondance Astronomique, vol. iv. page 143), will show 
that reserve formed no part of my character: — ' Le 12 du mois d'AoM, M. 
le Capitaine Smyth est venu relacher avec son observatoire flottant dans le 
port de Genes. J'ai eu la seconde fois le plaisir et l'avantage de revoir, et 
de m'entretenir avec ce marin distingue' sous tant de rapports. Cet habile 
officier a eu la bonte" de me communiquer, et de me fane voir avec sa fran- 
chise ordinaire, tous les travaux qu'il a fait depuis que nous nous sommes 
vus la derniere fois. II m'a montre" tous ses journaux, observations, plans, 
cartes, soit gravies soit dessindes, il n'avait rien de cache" ni pour moi, ni 
pour personne. II ne craint pas les communications ; sur de son fait, ses 
travaux peuvent supporter l'ceil du scrutateur. II ne fait aucun mystere de 
ses observations, car les Anglais ne pensent pas que des Longitudes, des lati 
trades, des .•l/.innits, des liases, et des triangles peuvent §tre des secrets dYiat 

B B 



370 COLONEL CAMPAKA'S REPLY. 

Long. deCorfou selon le Capt. Smyth 17° 35' 23" de Paris. 

„ „ selon le Capt. Gauttier .... 17 35 50 „ 

„ „ selon les triangles du Col. Visconti 17 35 41*4 ,, 

„ „ par l'eclipse d'Aldebaran* . . . 17 34 41 „ 

Remark. To this letter I added a full list of the reduction of 

Visconti's triangles, in French metres, which is appended in 
the fourteenth volume of the Correspondance ; but as there 
was no mention of the points adopted by the Milan Insti- 
tute, nor any names of the Austrian staff given — which, as 
already shown, were in these particulars unknown to me — • 
it gave rise to a little warmth. Colonel Campana wrote a 
statement for publication, which he forwarded to Baron de 
Zach, and which that gentleman, after consulting me, 
printed in his fifteenth volume, page 51. To preserve 
consistency, I here reprint it : — 

Campana's J e m'etais flatte, Monsieur le Baron, que d'apres les details explicatifs 

letter. d e la maniere dont on a determine les differentes positions geographiques 
gravees sur la carte directrice de l'Atlas de la mer Adriatique publiee par 
cet I. R. Institut geographique Militaire, et contenu dans l'annonce de 
l'Atlas que j'ai eu l'honneur de vous envoyer, et que vous avez eu la bonte 
d'inserer en partie dans votre Correspondance Astronomique, on n'aurait pas 
revoque en doute le degre de precision de ces positions. 

Mais comme la lettre de M. le Capitaine Smyth publiee dans le iv e 
cahier du volume xiv. de la meme correspondance fait presumer qu'on n'est 
pas tout a fait tranquille la-dessus, vous me permettrez, M. le Baron, 
d'ajouter ce qui suit, savoir : que tous les triangles qui s'etendent sans inter- 
ruption le long des cotes depuis Budua (Dalmatie) jusqu'a Sta. Maria di 
Leuca (Royaume de Naples) ont ete mesures, soit par les ofliciers de l'etat 
major general Autrichien, soit par ceux de l'etat major Napolitain, avec 
beaucoup de soin ; c'est pourquoi les latitudes et les longitudes des differents 
points qui en ont ete deduites doivent meriter la preference, sans vouloir 
contester pour cela le merite de celles des savans marins, qui dans la suite 
ont determine quelques unes de ces memes positions. 

Du reste, l'accord assez satisfaisant qui se trouve entre les longitudes 
determinees geodesiquement, et celles qui l'ont ete par les methodes pratiquees 
par les marins rapportees par M. le Capitaine Smyth dans la lettre ci-dessus 
citee, peut servir a faire juger du degre de precision de l'Atlas en question 
depuis Budua jusqu'a Parga (Albanie Turque), ou les positions n'ont ete 
fixees que par les methodes des marins. C'est pour completer l'echantillon 



* This occultation obtains a place here, because it seems to have been 
admirably observed, under the most favouring circumstances, by Inghirami 
at Florence, Oriani and Carlini at Milan, and Captain Chiandi at Corfu. It 
occurred on a beautiful evening, . c th March, 1813. 



COLONEL VISCONTI'S EARNESTNESS. 



371 



donne" par M. le Capitaine Smyth que je prends la liberte" de vous presenter Comparison 
ici la comparaison des longitudes de quelques autres points de 1' Atlas : — of P oin ts. 



NOMS DES LlEUX. 



Pkovenance. 
(Longitudes comptees de Paris.) 



Galiola Ec. dans le Quarnero 

Selve, Eglise 

Sansego, isle, sommet . 

Arbe, Eglise 

Porno, Ecueil 

Cazza, isle, sommet . 
Lagosta, signal Trigonom. 
Ecueil S. Niccolb di Budua 
Sta. Maria di Leuca . . 



Triangles de 
Dalmatie. 

11° 50' 17" 

12 21 38 

11 57 33 

12 25 29 

13 07 25 

14 10 39 
14 31 30 
16 31 08 
16 02 40 



Cap. Smyth. 

11° 49' 55" 

12 20 28 

11 57 20 

12 25 00 

13 07 10 

14 10 57 
14 31 08 
16 30 32 
16 02 57 



Cap. Gauttier. 
11° 49' 30" 



14 10 30 
14 31 10 
16 30 30 



anger. 



This letter occasioned a reply from me to Lieut.-General Baron Pro 

chaska. 

the Baron Prochaska, Chef d'Etat Major at Vienna, because 
I thereby accidentally learned, in July, 1826, what ought 
to have been officially communicated to me in the spring of 
1818. The want of a more liberal unanimity was, however, 
injurious to the Austrian publication; for on its appearance 
I received a complaint from Visconti, respecting the conduct visconti's 
of our co-operators, in arrogating the whole work to them- 
selves; and adding that he would forthwith construct and 
publish a more correct chart of the Adriatic, with a strong 
reclamation. But this should, as well as the preceding 
citations, be recorded in his own words: — 

Queste nozioni mi sarebbero utilissime, poiche mi sono proposto, appena 
sara in Milano publicato il rimanente di dare io una carta pin semplice, piu 
adattata all' uso de' Marini, piu economica, e soprattutto piu esafcta, mentre ho 
veduto che nella suddetta l ma parte fatta a Milano vi sono degli errori sulle 
latitudini e longitudini d'Otranto, Fano, S. M a di Leuca, Sasseno, Linguetta, 
Corfu, etcetera, e sulla distanza d'Otranto a Capo Linguetta. E siccome la 
detta carta a Milano e stata publicata come fatta tutta dagli uffiziali dello 
Stato Maggiore Austriaco, senza far memoria ne di voi, che trovavasi inciso 
ne' fogli terminati al 1814 ; cosl mi propongo ancora di rivendicare la pro- 
priety di ognuno, facendo conoscere al pubblico a chi si deve il rilievo d'una 
costa, o d' un porto, a chi lo scandaglio, a chi la latitudine o la longitudine 
osservata ecc a e 1' epoca del lavoro d' ognuno, e si vedra che agli uffiziali 
dello Stato Maggiore Austriaco non si devono che poche redute, e qualche 
altra piccola COSa. 

R B 2 



372 RETURN TO THE MEDITERRANEAN. 

To resume the narrative. Early in July, 1821, I again 
h.m. ship left England, in the Adventure sloop-of-war, with instruc- 

Adventure. . 

tions conformable to the agreement already made in Pans. 
These orders principally directed me to re-examine the 
doubtful parts of my selected portion of the Mediterranean 
Sea, and to make a running coast-survey of the deficient parts 
of the detail ; all to be completed, if possible, within three 
years. Thus instructed, and furnished with more efficient 
means than before — though still in want of a tender — I 
laboured to act up to the spirit of the Admiralty instruc- 
tions, in the manner which will be presently noticed. 
Having accomplished the points and coast-line required, the 
same was duly announced to the Board, and we prepared to 
return home in the autumn of 1824. But their lordships 
having strengthened my force in the spring of that year, by 

The Kimble the addition of a fine 10-gun cutter, the Nimble, I took 
upon myself to leave her under the command of Lieutenant 
Slater, who had won his commission by zeal and attention 
to the work in hand, to execute several secondary though 
important details during the time that my charts and plans 
would be under completion. For this purpose I furnished 

Orders to the necessary instructions to that officer, directing him to 
examine the mouth of the Magra river, between Genoa and 
Tuscany; to add more soundings to specified portions of 
those coasts ; to sound round the shoal of Capo Vita, on the 
north-east of Elba; to re-examine our coast line of Algiers; 
and especially to search round the rock off Cape Matafuz, 
and between it and the Cape, for a second danger reported 
to me by a Sardinian. 

Keturn to These arrangements having been made, I returned to 

England, and paid off the Adventure in November, 1824- 
The Board of Admiralty was now furnished with a series of 
latitudes and longitudes fixed by Captains Gauttier, Beau- 
fort, and myself, from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Sea of 
Azof; and by the accomplishment of this mission, hydro- 



HYDROGRAPHICAL OPINIONS. 373 

graphy was presented, for the first time, with the tine 
figure of the Mediterranean Sea. My documents being 
both numerous and various, necessarily demanded much 
time to prepare them for publication : to meet, therefore, work by 
the immediate wants of navigation, a large general chart 
of the whole was drawn up under my inspection by Captain 
Graves — then a midshipman — and issued for public use in 
1825. It was with this purpose in view that I tolerated a 
plate forty-seven inches by twenty-eight inches, to fit the 
large sheets of paper called antiquarian ; but for the others 
adopted half the double-elephant sheet, as economical, 
easy to work, handy to use singly, and measurable without 
crease if bound in an atlas. Practical utility being My views of 
my object, and as but one chart or plan is used at a 
time, I studied the nature and importance of a coast or 
port for cruising upon, and afterwards arranged the scale of 
each according to the portion contained on the half-sheet. 
In order to methodize in other respects, the north was 
always placed vertically upwards, as a meridian line, and 
especial care was taken not to crowd the details, leaving all 
the dangers, and objects to be avoided, as obvious as possible 
to those who have to consult charts in fresh weather, and 
with indifferent light.* Under such treatment the subject 
of scales — so interesting to chamber theory — became a very 
secondary concern; for no navigator pricking off his slip's And con- 
place, with a chart before him and compasses in hand, ever method. 
cared a straw about what scale the next sheet might be pro- 



* On this account, I cannot but look upon the method introduced by 
Beautenis Beaupre*, of contour-lines round a port, with dots for depths, as 
more adapted for the engineer than the seaman. To preserve perspicuity, 
I inserted no more soundings on the charts than were deemed necessary to 
a proper comprehension of the included space, and unnecessary rhumb-lines 
were omitted; the coasts being understood to be entirely clear of danger, 
unless otherv. Under this system, the lead is trustworthy; 

and on most coasts it will be found that inshore the bottom is generally 
sand, and in the offing, blue clay. 



374 LINE OF ACTION. 

tracted upon. Each was therefore severally treated as an 
individual case, rendered amenable by its size to its contents. 
Those who desire to form a correct idea of the relative 
proportions of different countries, can always refer to the 
general chart. In library atlases, the number of arbitrary 
scales might be reduced with advantage ; but the study and 
the ship require very different treatment. 
Nature of The materials for filling these sheets must now be men- 

the mate- , . . . , 

rials. tioned, since, in pronouncing an opinion upon any work, 
the intention of its projector ought not to be overlooked. 
I therefore repeat, that my whole wish was to secure as 
much information as possible in a given time ; owing to the 
constant apprehension of being broken off. Consequently, 

My views, in executing this arduous duty, my aim was rather to obtain 
substantial good, than minute or absolute accuracy; for 
which latter another kind of establishment would have 
been demanded. The chief quality, therefore, to which I 
lay claim, in the conduct of the survey, is unwearied dili- 
gence ; and by resorting to the practical rather than to the 
theoretical application of mathematics, and exerting my 
stock of professional knowledge in a given and decided 
direction, I was able to enter into competition with some 

Assistance of my superiors in acquirements. When the Aid first came 
out to the Mediterranean, there was not an officer or other 
person on board who had any practical acquaintance with 
maritime surveying : but there was no lack of zeal and in- 
clination, and when I first instructed and afterwards per- 
sonally directed them, they all became useful, and some of 
them extremely so. Even the mere youngsters were handy 
in the boats; and they who are vulgarly termed idlers em- 
ployed themselves in making statistical and other inquiries 
for me. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that the names 
of those who served with me in the Aid and Adventure are 
here given; merely remarking that my chief obligations were 
to Messrs. Slater, Graves, and Elson. The following lists 



received. 



OFFICERS OF THE 'AID' AND ' ADVENTURE/ 375 



contain the officers' names, &c., nearly in the order in which 
they joined : — 

Gun-Room Officeks. 

In 1853. 

Lieut. John Hose Dead. 

„ C. R. Maiden ....... Reserved H. P. 

,, Josiah Oake Captain. 

,, F. W~. Beechey Captain. 

„ Hen. E. Coffin, volunteer . . Captain. 

Master, Thomas Atwell Dead. 

,, Thomas Elson Dead* 

Surgeon, James M. Madden .... Retired. 

,, Abraham Courtney . . . Retired. 

,, John Stephenson .... Drowned. 

Purser, Robert Young ...... Dead. 

Assist. -Surgeon, "William Clarke . . Died a Surgeon. 

,, „ John Campbell ■ . Surgeon. 

„ ,, William Beg . . . Dead. 

Thaddeus Porter . . Dead. 



Names and 
particulars. 



Mates and Midshipmen. 



J. F. Dessiou. . 
M. A. Slater . . 
Ed. Holland . . 
Wm. Skyring . 
Ed. Tyndale . . 
James Cooling . 
Thomas Graves. 
Nelson Elliot . . 
James Wolfe . . 



In 1853. 
Drowned. 
Died Commander. 
Commander. 
Killed, Commander. 
Died a Lieut. 
Died a Lieut. 
Captain. 
Died a Master. 
Died a Commander. 



In 1853. 
Henry Bush . . Dead. 
Thomas Dutton . Dead. 
Wm. Robinson . Dead. 
W. Sidney Smith Captain. 
Robert Sholl . . Dead. 
Henry Raper . . Lieut. 
Mayne Lyons. . Killed, Lieut. 
Alfred Miles . . Commander, dead 
James B. West. Commander.^ 



These gentlemen, as already said, were all and severally Remarks 
desirous of rendering their exertions effective; and I en- 
deavoured to appoint each to the kind and degree of work 
for which he appeared best qualified. Upon those who 



* I took Mr. Elson out of the Weymouth store-ship, on observing his 
activity in embarking the marbles at Leptis Magna; and he afterwards 
served with me seven years as Master. He died in 1848, Master-Attendant 
of Woolwich yard, having written me a cheerful letter in the morning of the 
day on which he expired. 

t Officers were occasionally sent from the flag-ship, as the present Lord 
Adolphus Fitzclarence, Captain Charles Howe Fremantle, his brother Henry 
— who died on board — Mr. J. J. Smith (retired), and two or three others ; but 
as they merely joined for their own instruction, they are not entered upon 
the above list. 



376 COMMUNICATIONS WITH LORD MELVILLE. 

more immediately bore a share in the survey, I inculcated 
the necessity of appropriating their labour to its intended 
purpose ; and in order to conduce to the consistent economy 
of time and means which the tenour of my mission demanded, 
distinctly described the proper degree of accuracy expected 
at their hands. I also pointed out the readiest method of 
attaining the desired end in the respective data with which 
they were to furnish me; while an uniformity in the 
method and manner of drawing and reducing was estab- 
lished. And here a few more words may be necessary to 
elucidate our proceedings, even at the risk of repetition in 
some details. 

On returning to the Mediterranean in 1821, I had 
viscount arranged with Lord Melville to carry out a present from 

Melville. . ... 

our government to the Basha of Tripoli, in acknowledg- 
ment of the assistance he had formerly afforded me; and 
to obtain permission from him for the completion of our 
survey of the Greater Syrtis. To effect this fully, I showed 
his lordship the benefit there would be, if, while the ship 
should be employed on the hydrographic details, a land 
party were simultaneously to proceed along the shores, the 
whole site being replete with objects of antiquarian and 
geographical interest. For this purpose there was a volunteer 
well versed in the Arabic language and customs in my 

Capt. Lyon, former messmate, the late Captain G. F. Lyon, who had 
recently returned from Murzuk {see my letter to Lord 
Melville, in the Appendix) ; and so fair did the opportu- 
nity of exploring the Cyrenaica seem, that the celebrated 
Sig. Belzoni, then lately returned from Egypt, offered to 
accompany me. From a change of circumstances, however, 
Lyon went with Captain Parry on the Arctic expedition, 

Messrs. and Lieutenant Beechey, who had been on Parry's memo- 

"Rppfilipy 

rable first Polar voyage, was appointed to the Adventure, 
to supply Lyon's place; and instead of Belzoni, we em- 
barked Mr. Henry Beechey, the Lieutenant's brother, an 
old acquaintance of my own, well known as an Egyptian 



THE SYRTIS MISSION. 377 

traveller. To these gentlemen I added Mr. Edward Tyndale, Lieutenant 

BggcIicy's 

a midshipman, who had travelled with me in Africa ; Mr. force. 
Campbell, assistant-surgeon; and a volunteer, Lieutenant 
Henry Edward Coffin, whose uncle, Admiral Sir Isaac 
Coffin, was going out in the ship as my guest. I had my- 
self already examined and fixed the coast of this unfre- 
quented gulf as far as below Isa on the west side, and from 
Kharkarah to the northwards on the east side. The land- 
party had therefore to proceed round the bottom of the 
Syrtis, and from thence to the examination of the ruins in 
the Pentapolis, and the whole country round Cyrene. 

This section of the survey, comprehending the exposed His work, 
space between Isa and Kharkarah, is the only portion which 
I did not personally see : and am therefore bound to state 
that, on a complete knowledge of the means and method 
employed to carry out my instructions, I was fully satis- 
fied with the Lieutenant's results. Considering it unsafe 
to carry the ship farther into a gulf of which we knew 
nothing, Mr. Elson was despatched in the ship's launch, 
expressly fitted for the occasion, to make a surveying 
cruize of the intervening shores. Lieutenant Beechey's 
charge, indeed, comprehended the topography of the space 
between Tripoli and Dema, the mensuration of which was 
to be adjusted to some of my determinations, as detailed in 
his interesting volume. But I sorely regretted that un- My regret 
toward circumstances utterly prevented the party which being in- 
he led, from proceeding through Dema to Alexandria ; as 
that region, then all but unknown, would have been 
accurately examined before political changes had increased 
the obstacles to a full investigation. 

After quitting the coast of Africa, I returned to com- Return to 
plete my charts of the Italian islands in the western basin 
of the Mediterranean, including Corsica, Sardinia, and the 
channels near Elba ; the whole being connected by triangles 
with the Tuscan and Roman shores. On the 12th of Novem- 
ber, 1823, while thus employed, the Lloiret, a French brig 



378 INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN ALLEGRE. 

m. Aiiegre. of war, commanded by Mons. Allegre, sought refuge from an 
easterly gale in Port San Pietro, Sardinia, where the Adven- 
ture was then riding. As this gentleman was formerly one 
of Gauttier s officers, and therefore acquainted with me, he 
related that he had since served three years with Captain 

French Hell on a detailed survey of the Island of Corsica. Having 
corsica° kindly brought his documents on board, and made a com- 
parison with our operations and results, we found a general 
agreement in the points and such portions of the coast 
as were completed by both : but, moreover, the details of 
Corsica were so elaborately laid down by the French officers, 
and bore such internal evidence of extreme accuracy, that, 
as I told Captain Allegre, there was not the slightest occa- 
sion for my returning thither, to survey between the 
points which I had already established there. 

Such being the outline of my re-examination, it may still 
be necessary to dwell a moment upon the system we pursued, 
before giving a table of the geographical positions which 
form the framework of the general chart. 

The course I n the course of our operations, we determined the lati- 

foiiowed. j. U( j eg an( j longitudes of a certain number of principal places 
in our best manner, and then used them as consecutive 
points on a series of bases ; using triangulation by the 
theodolite between them where obtainable, and filling up 
others by the most eligible means afforded by the ship and 
boats. Every port was thus considered a station ; and 
where the hostility of the natives, or the quarantine regula- 
tions, were inimical to landing, islets or rocks off such coasts 
were always resorted to. With the exception of those just 
mentioned at the bottom of the greater Syrtis, the whole of 
the latitudes and longitudes were entirely under my own 

Chronome- computation ; the keeping of the chronometer-rates, only, 
ter rates. navni g "b een latterly consigned to the care of Messrs. Slater 

Surveys. and Graves. The principal harbours were surveyed by 
myself, with occasional assistance, and the more open bays 
by the other officers ; while some of the minor places were 



RECLAMATION OF THE ' WATER TELESCOPE.' 379 

sketched in from measures obtained by means of painted 
lengths on poles, and the application of Rochons micro- Eochon's 
meter thereto. We examined the most remarkable banks, meter, 
with unsparing diligence. 

In early days I had seen a cylindrical cartridge-box, with a water- 
its bottom cut out and the orifice glazed, used for examining tube 02 
the state of a ship's bottom by immersion, as a cure for the 
reflection and refraction of the rays of light at the surface 
of the water which impede distinct vision : and in order to 
facilitate subaqueous inspections, I had a tube constructed 
in the shape of an overgrown speaking-trumpet, well glazed, 
and steadied in the water by a large grommet of lead. 
Upwards of twenty years after this had been publicly used, 
a similar instrument was advertised as a new American 
invention, under the style and title of the ' "Water Telescope/ 

The lines of coast between the ports were mostly sketched 
on a patent-log basis by Mr. Elson, the master, whose use of the 

i i . • n iii patent-log. 

activity and seamanship were in constant demand ; and the 
skill with which he managed our schooner-rigged launch, 
and accommodated her to circumstances, partly compensated 
our being without a tender. These running surveys, con- 
stituting properly a maritime reconnoissance, were laid 
down on a very large scale, and afterwards reduced and 
subjected to the points previously established.* 

As the chronometric bases on which these longitudes chronome- 
depend, and by which they are connected with the Palermo 
Observatory, are of first-rate import, a brief sketch of our 
working routine may be acceptable in a general sense, how- 



* In my instructions to the officers, the amount of labour was appor- 
tioned according to the local circumstances; for before geology had attained 
its present rank, I had observed that the depths of the sea follow the nature 
of the shores — the slopes of the one varying with the nature of the other. 
Thus, high and rocky cliffs have deep water, and are pierced with harbours; 
while low coasts are generally shallow, and destitute of ports. It may 
therefore, from this and other peculiarities, be held, that a low shore is a 
growing one, and a high shore is a wasting one. Wherever the Zostcra 
manna, or riband-like grass-wrack, is found, shoals may be expected, for 
it detains silt, mud, and sand, till a bank is gradually formed. 



380 BREGUET'S ' COMPTEUR/ 

ever trite such details may be to the practised nautical as- 
tronomer. On this second trip we followed precisely the 
same plan and method as was before stated, but with the 
increased power and confidence which experience gives. 

Additional To the instruments already mentioned, the Admiralty had 
ments. added four more chronometers — namely, No. 12 of Pen- 
nington, and Nos. 320, 547, and 553, of Arnold ; another 
7-inch theodolite ; and a very beautiful 15-inch altitude- 
and-azimuth circle, with good levels, and a capital telescope. 
And I should mention that, when in Paris, Mons. Arago 
took me to the house of M. Breguet the elder, to show me 

Transit- a newly -• contrived transit -telescope, fitted with a chrono- 

telescope. 

meter No. 2741 to the eye end, which he qualified as a 
' Compteur des secondes, des dixiemes de seconde, et des 
centiemes par approximation:' this instrument, on exa- 
mination, appeared to possess such advantages as a portable 
transit, that I purchased it for myself, and the Lords of our 
Treasury granted it a free passage through the Custom- 
house. Breguet on this occasion presented me with one of 
his exquisitely-sensible metallic thermometers. 

In pursuing our progress, I made as short passages as 

were consistent between the principal ports, in order the 

ciironome- better to obtain their chronometric differences of meridian ; 

trie r&t^s 

the ' sights' for watching the truth and permanence of the 
rates being taken regularly on arrival, by the method of 
equal altitudes, and corrected for the true refraction in the 
existing state of the atmosphere. The harbour-rates as- 
sumed — determined by the observed daily rates in the port 
before sailing — were always estimated for the time elapsed 
between the run from one place to another; and though 
the march was watched by daily observation whenever the 
weather permitted, the results of the extreme series, only, 
were employed in determining the longitude of departure 
Harbour and arrival. The harbour sights were always taken on 
Slg s * shore, in a quicksilver artificial horizon, with reflecting 
instruments well adjusted, and the index-error ascertained 



COURSE PURSUED. 381 

at the time of taking them ; and they were invariably the Mode of 

ol3scrvin° r . 

mean of three altitudes of the upper, and three of the 
lower limb of the sun ; while the corresponding times were 
carefully registered from my job-watch (Earnshaw's pocket- 
chronometer, No. 825), which was forthwith carried off and 
compared with the stationary time-keepers on board. The 
9 -inch quintant was the favourite instrument for this pur- 
pose; but, when the celestial altitude was very great, 
Troughton's reflecting circle was substituted. And occa- 
sionally when, owing to clouds or other causes, altitudes 
could only be procured on one side of the meridian, more 
than usual care was bestowed on determining the exact 
corrections necessary for instrumental and object errors, 
refraction, &c. 

The standard chronometers were placed on hair cushions standard 

11-1111 r chrono- 

wedged with cork, where the temperature, as far as we meters. 
could contrive, was so uniform and constant as to be no task 
on the compensation; for the cabin never had a fire in it 
while I commanded, and was little liable to sudden tran- 
sitions, causes which might otherwise disturb chronometric 
action. Their several rates were therefore easily scrutinized ; 
and the discrepancy of each individual time-piece was 
valued by its allotted weight, in the summation of the 
products. 

Many of the principal latitudes were taken on shore observed 
with the 9-inch quintant and artificial horizon, and with latltudes ' 
the reflecting circle and sextants ; but some of the first 
class were obtained with the fine 15 -inch altitude -and - 
azimuth circle, by a mean of sets with the face of the 
instrument alternately turned to the east and the west. 
Thus we hoped to clear our results from probable errors of 
division and ex-centricity ; and it was always steadily 
mounted on a cask filled with sand, and most carefully 
adjusted, so as to serve as well for time as for altitudes. 
Here both sun and stars were employed for latitude, and were 
always observed at the instant of meridian passage, except 



382 



COURSE PURSUED. 



The dip- 
sector. 



in a few cases when that could not be exactly attained, 
and then the horary angle, either east or west, was duly 
observed, and the reduction to the meridian computed. 
The moon. The moon was not used for this object, on account of the 
liabilities of irradiation, diameter, and tabular errors. The 
sea-horizon was never resorted to in these processes, except 
in a few rare instances where, from moral or physical impe- 
diment, landing to secure a latitude was impracticable; and 
then the object was carefully brought on the true east or 
west line from us, in order to do away with the arbitrary 
reduction which is consequent upon a general compass 
bearing. Captain Gauttier had lent me a dip-sector — then 
a new introduction — made by Lenoir, after one of Wollas- 
ton's, to obviate some of the objections to the natural 
horizon; but I found it so troublesome to use, and showing 
such discordance between the results and theory, that I soon 
abandoned it. This would not have been satisfactory to 
the inventor: if the principle be true, it ought to be a 
requisite instrument, no matter how difficult to use, because 
the horizon may be out by almost any quantity, so that 
results may be egregiously bad in spite of the goodness of 
sextant, and skill of observer. But the dip-sector appears 
to be dependent on the principle of opposite points of the 
horizon being equally affected by any abnormal state of the 
refraction; whereas, though this may be the case in ordi- 
nary states of the atmosphere, it is not likely to be so in the 
extraordinary cases, where its correction would be most in 
demand, and where the effect would probably be confined to 
a very limited azimuthal range. 

Lunar distances, eclipses, and sidereal occultations were 
at first diligently observed, and recorded among the deter- 
minations: but finding some of these in fair accordance 
with the chronometric measurements, and others, equally 
well taken, widely differing; and also seeing that besides the 
known deficiencies of the tables, they were influenced by 
the existing state of the atmosphere, the tone of the eye, 



Nature of 
observa- 
tion. 



COURSE PURSUED. 383 

and the power of the instrument, and consequently must be 
inadequate for precision,* I discontinued these nice and 
most delicate observations, save for practice ; thus abandon- 
ing the method of getting absolute longitudes by astronomy, Relative 
for that of differences by time. The great accuracy and 
extreme simplicity of mensuration by chronometers, left 
nothing to be desired on this head, especially where the 
lengths of the runs were so arranged, that a comparatively 
speedy return to the starting point, allowed an estimate of 
the probable error of a determination. 

The geodetical angles were generally taken and reduced Geodesy. 
by myself, except in the northern portion of the Adriatic 
Sea, where I was largely assisted in this arduous duty by 
Captain Soldan, of the Neapolitan staff, and Lieutenant Capt. Soi- 
C. K Maiden. In particular places a base was generally Lt. Maiden. 
measured on a selected spot of ground, with a tested 
Gunter's chain ; and the line was lengthened at pleasure, by 
means of boarding-pikes stuck in the ground at a chain's 
distance from each other. The angles at each end were 
then taken with a truly -adjusted theodolite, an instrument value of 
which — as it gives the horizontal arc intercepted between doiite. 
the verticals of the two stations without reduction — unites 
celerity with precision. But where the sides were long, and 
the large circle was used, the difference that exists between 
the three angles of a theoretical plane triangle, and the 
three observed by reason of the sensibly spherical form of 
the earth, became appreciable, even when such sides were 
not more than a dozen miles in length. The excess thus 
occasioned may be corrected by treating the angles of the 
chords, and the chords themselves, as the angles and sides 



* I should, however, remind the reader that the above is stated without 
any intention of undervaluing that beautiful method. The quantity of 
motion to be measured in lunars is only ^th of that which is employed in 
getting the time by chronometers (it being the diminutive amount of the 
proper motion of the moon as opposed to the great amount of its diurnal 
progress) ; this is the circumstance that makes any error in the observation 
tell so largely on its result, and renders the conclusions so rough. 



384 MAGNETIC DEVIATIONS. 

of a plane triangle ; but the theorem of Legendre more 
Spherical simply shows, that if one third of the spherical excess be 
' deducted from each angle, the opposite sides become pro- 
portioned to the sines of the corrected angles, and their 
magnitude may, therefore, be calculated by the rules of 
plane trigonometry. 

In re magnetism. When I commenced surveying, the 

variation instruments for getting the variation of the compass were 

compass, very inferior to those now in use ; and the method of 

swinging a ship to ascertain the effects of its mass on 

the needle in different azimuths had not yet obtained — a 

method which has rendered the determinations in a ship 

so trustworthy for absolute magnetic quantities, in the 

Captain variation at sea. The essay of Captain Flinders, however, 

Flinders. _.„ . . . . 

concerning the differences m the magnetic needle arising 
from an alteration in the direction of the ship's head, 
printed in the Philosophical Transactions for 1805, and 
his experiments a few years afterwards, had revealed to me 
the tendencies and power of local attraction ; which had 

Cook, &c. only been puzzles to Dampier, Cook, and Lowenhoru, and 
remained uninvestigated by Downie. Therefore, in deter- 
mining the corrections, and watching the affections of the 
compass, but little was ultimately used which was performed 
on board ; although, in pursuing the usual methods for sea- 
practice, every precaution was taken to guard against acci- 
dental derangements and alterations. The variation of the 
needle was very readily established wherever we formed a 
meridian line for observatory purposes on shore ; and in the 

Methods secondary requirements we resorted to a large and well- 
graduated universal solar-dial, furnished with spirit-levels, 
and carefully adjusted to the sun's altitude at culmination. 
But whenever necessity compelled us to resort to amplitudes, 
they were taken at the instant when the altitude of the 
inferior limb of the sun above the visible horizon was equal 
to the difference of the semi-diameter and of the horizontal 
refraction increased by the dip — in other words, when the 



adopted. 



THE MARINER'S COMPASS. 385 

centre of the sun was in the true horizon — a process less 
troubled with unequal refractions in the Mediterranean 
than in our latitudes, and therefore susceptible of consider- 
able accuracy. Azimuths at sea, when the sun was not Azimuths, 
obtainable at rising or setting, were determined from the 
observed difference and compass bearing of altitude in a 
measured interval of time; though sometimes they were 
taken by the sun's angular distance from a terrestrial object. 
These, however, were for practice rather than use, since, as 
has been already said, we depended chiefly on shore work, 
whereby the non-verticality of the sight-vanes, and the 
effect of local attractions on the oscillations and vibratory 
movements of the needle, were more easily remedied. The 
inclinatiou, and estimated magnetic intensity, were carefully Magnetic 
observed with a well-made dipping-needle at our principal 
stations; on which occasions we usually shifted the poles of 
the magnet, and took readings with the face of the instru- 
ment alternately to the east and to the west, in the plane 
of the magnetic meridian. 

The mariner's compass is too important an instrument 
in all the purposes of navigation, not to merit distinct 
mention ; and what has been here advanced as to the great 
improvements since my survey, will receive illustration 
from a passage which I wrote in 1848, on receiving a 
book from the late Captain E. J. Johnson, Superintendent Captain 

L x Johnson 

of the Navy Compasses : — 

In order to carry out his (Johnsons) representations, a memorandum for Admiralty 

the proper treatment of compasses on ship-board has been issued by the Ad- mem. 

miralty. In this document it is directed to remove all iron to the distance 

of seven feet from the binnacle, as of old ; that mixed metal or copper be 

used in place thereof, for bolts, keys, and dowels ; and that iron tillers are 

not to range within seven feet of the compasses. The binnacles are to be at 

least four feet and a half apart, and they are no longer to be fitted with doors, 

so as to render them dirt-lockers, or depositories of improper materials. But 

a most important improvement is this : that in every ship a closet is to be 

constructed for the reception and keeping of the compasses, under the express 

charge of the Master, who is to see that the cards are never packed with 

poles of the same name nearest to each other — that is, that the north end of 

one needle shall be placed next the south end of its neighbour. 

This is assuredly a real reform in the steering deparfcmei which - om P ass 

J ' reform. 

C C 



386 



THE MARINER'S COMPASS. 



must awaken recollections of a grave tenor in those who are able to look 
back to the day when the compasses were turned-in higgledy-piggledy with 
the hooks, thimbles, marline-spikes, and iron implements of all sorts in the 
boatswain's store-room. The case is wonderfully altered ; instead of the ship- 
chandlers' contract concerns- — with inefficient suspension, indifferent needles, 
bad pivots and caps, and contemptible gimbals — the Service is now provided 

The new with machines of a first-rate description and trusty character. The needles 
compasses. are mac l e of the best clock-spring steel, and perform their oscillations in 
truly-balanced copper bowls ; the pivots supporting the card are pointed 
with a material harder than steel to work into the ruby cap : and, instead 
of leaving it to its fate, as of old, it is directed that the card should be raised 
whenever the compass is to be moved, or the guns fired. Some of the straw- 
pickers have branded the present standard compasses as costly, seeing their 
price consists of as many sovereigns as those they displaced did of shillings : 

Absurd ob- but what is this difference when we weigh a trustworthy instrument against 
one which is all but worthless ! What is the sum of twenty -five or thirty 
sovereigns for the most important machine in a ship, and one to which the 
beautiful chronometer is only secondary ! The same critics, to be sure, are 
ready to remind us that the ocean has been passed in safety before Captain 
Johnson was born; even so — but how far the expenses of bad reckoning 
have been earned, or the absolute ruin of numerous fine ships may have 
been owing to a similar cause, is buried in a dense fog of oblivion. In a 
similar train of thought our author observes, ' While the tides and currents 
of the ocean — imperfect logs — inaccurate charts — unsteady steerage — in- 
attention to the lead — stress of weather — defective ships — defective equip- 
ment, or defective management, may be the cause of loss, it would be 
fallacious to assume that the greater number of wrecks are caused by errors 
of the compass ; but that many have occurred in consequence of these, there 
can be no doubt whatever. ' Be it also remembered that the annual average 
number of British shipwrecks is stated to be about 547, or, as we formerly 
observed, a ship and a half a day. 



jection. 



Reply. 



Coast sur- 
veys. 



Surveys of extreme accuracy are, of course, invaluable, 
and can only be obtained by much time, uninterrupted 
labour, and heavy expense ; but for a reconnaissance of 
some thousands of miles, with every probability of inter- 
ruption, immediate utility alone could be aimed at. After 
fixing the co-ordinates of latitude, longitude, and height, 
my whole effort was speedily to compile and correct a chart 
which should meet every want of the navigator. The boat- 
runs between the ports to which I have alluded, consisted, 
Patent log. therefore, merely in sailing along on a patent-log base, or 
any other feasible scale; and the delineations thus made 
were afterwards reduced to my points and positions for 
adjustment. The whole being laid down for a certain end, 
the rough drawing was then reduced to the dimensions 



s 
compass. 



CAUTION AS TO DANGERS. 387 

which I considered adapted to the nature and extent of the 
examination, and the maritime importance of the place. 
The boat- bearings were generally taken with Kater's hand Kater- 
azimuth - compass ; but in cases of moment, magnetic 
rhumbs were seldom resorted to when astronomical ones 
could be obtained ; and all the shelves, shoals, and leading Shoals 
soundings, were fixed by sextant angles to assumed stations 
on shore. 

Among other desiderata, I determined to sound all Soundings 
that part of the sea, which was thus under my charge, 
to very unusual depths, to confirm the existence or non- 
existence of reported banks and dangers. This is a point 
upon which very particular attention was bestowed, since, 
although convinced that many shoals are reported which On rocks 
do not exist, yet I am also satisfied, that because an shoals. 
alleged rock or shelf is no longer to be found, it cannot be 
thence positively concluded that it never existed. Some 
such might have been thrown up by submarine volcanoes, 
and afterwards submerged, as, among recent and well- 
known instances, the Sabrina and Graham Islands; and 
many a vigia may have originated where mistakes of vision 
or mere imagination misled the judgment: drifting trees 
were taken for wrecks, while fish-scules, spawn-patches, 
meeting of currents, and local discolorations, passed for 
imminent perils. Thus, although some dangers have been 
noted without sufficient grounds, there can be no reasonable 
doubt that others are in like manner questioned without 
sufficient reason. Still, nothing in hydrography demands 
more circumspection than the act of erasing doubtful dan- 
gers from a chart ; and as precaution is an acknowledged 
source of security, mariners should ' open their eyes' when 
they approach the sites of those previously reported. The 
class of would-be savans who absurdly hold that rocks grow Paradox 
under water, are easily furnished with a cause when an un- 
expected danger is announced; but their opinion is not the 

CC 2 



388 CAUTION AS TO DANGERS. 

less absurd because it was once pretty widely entertained,* 
Kock geo- and still lingers. Nor can I quite quadrate with the more 
modern doctrine of the disintegration and dispersion of such 
rocks ; for when beneath the surface of the sea, rocks can- 
not be subject to such decomposing conditions as are pro- 
duced by the active influence of the atmosphere. Oxygen, 
in the necessary quantity for the production of sufficient 
oxidation to weaken rocks at great depths, would hardly be 
afforded by the air contained in waters ; and I have already 
shown the length of time during which many of the Medi- 
terranean shoals have been recorded by navigators. 
Remark. Holding it, therefore, on these grounds, to be highly 

improper to expunge dangers from the charts, however 
sceptical we may be as to the original authority that placed 
them there, it has always been my opinion that, though 
troublesome, every reported rock ought to be strictly 
searched for; and the pains I took in quest of supposed 
dangers — such as the Thisbe shoal, the Fox rock, TEntre- 
prenante reef, shoals north of Minorca, &c. — can only be 
known to those who sailed with me. Besides this, my 
general practice was to catch a very deep cast of the lead 
on every favourable occasion, for the chance of picking up a 
bank : so that, what with soundings, experiments for tem- 
perature, and drawing up water from great depths, calm 
weather was not an idle time upon our decks. On the 
assumption that no danger could be without a bank, my 
trials in the vicinity of vigice were made with from 150 to 
600, and even 800 fathoms of line ; and though doubts may 
remain relative to several reported dangers, still as it cannot 
be presumed that they do not exist, I have marked their 
reputed places with a note of interrogation. Indeed, when 
so many visible effects of the expansive and explosive gases 



* Here, of course, I do not include the case of corallines ; nor the gradual 
accretion of sedimentary strata assisted by pressure from the superincumbent 
water, and natural calcareous and ferruginous cements. 



CAUTION AS TO DANGERS. 389 

of submarine volcanoes are noted, it is quite clear that shoals 
may be up-heaved and again submerged, as in the instances 
already described. 

Until my mission, all the charts in use exhibited a long 
bank between Cape Creux and Toulon, with from 40 to 70 
fathoms of water upon it. It was called the Koches Molles ; 
and it was very material that no ship should get far into the 
Gulf of Lyons in the night, or in thick weather, lest then 
gaining soundings she might imagine herself on the Roches 
Molles with plenty of sea-room. I therefore determined 
to examine this bank very particularly, but could not find 
it, although the whole vicinity was searched under casts of 
from 500 to 800 fathoms without striking bottom. This, 
coupled with a want of corroboration of its existence among 
the seafarers of Provence and Languedoc, induced me to 
drop it from my survey. There was another bank equally 
notorious, and with shallower water marked, shown for a 
century on paper, between Minorca and Asinara, under the 
name of Caccia. In the Admiralty chart supplied to our 
fleet, it bore 13 fathoms water; but in Mount and Page's 
edition of the General Quarter Waggoner, 1717, it shows 
the alarming notice — " sometimes 2 fathoms/' Now had 
this shoal existed, we might have had a disagreeable ac- 
quaintance with it in the Rodney, 74, during a gale of wind 
to which she was exposed in January, 1812; but neither 
then, nor afterwards, could we substantiate the fact. In 
addition to my own exertions, finding that the Sardinian 
coral-fishers were unacquainted with such a spot, I made no 
scruple of omitting it also, thereby clearing a bugbear from 
an important navigation. 

Although I thus expunged some supposed banks from 
the charts, in two cases only was my usual caution departed 
from, where actual dangers were marked on presumed 
authority. The first was between Capri and Cape Cam- supposed 
panella, on the south entrance of the Bay of Naples: here Sjjjjged. 
a shoal was marked nearly in mid-channel, on Zannoni's 



390 CAUTION AS TO DANGERS. 

and other charts, and it had caused many ships to be carried 
round the western side of Capri, in preference to the 
shorter route. This shoal we could not find, nor even hear 
of among the fishermen : and having mentioned the matter 
to my friend Yisconti, he employed some gun-boats, and 
swept the whole ground so completely, that we were quite 
satisfied there could be no danger there. The second 
Thisbe instance was in rejecting the rock at the entrance of the 
Strait of Gibraltar, on which it had been asserted that 
H.M.S. Thisbe struck, at about 3k 30m. A.M. on the 12th 

I of August, 1804. For this I searched in vain; and on 

afterwards becoming acquainted with Mr. Corner, who was 
first lieutenant of that ship at the time, he assured me he 
did not know how any bearings could have been taken, as 
it was quite dark even after she had forged off. Therefore 
no doubt could be entertained of her having run upon the 
sir George Cabezos. But in 1825, Sir George Cockburn put a memo- 
' randum in my hand, reporting that a merchantman was 
nearly lost upon the Thisbe ; on which I remarked that 
some men thought it safer to state that to their owners, 
than to acknowledge the vessel had got upon well-placed 
and well-known rocks; and gave both him and Sir Edward 
Parry, the then hydrographer, my reasons for disbelieving 
the story. As the declaration, however, came with Lloyd's 
official strength, H.M.S. Mastiff, Commander Copeland, was 
ordered to the spot, and several weeks of expensive labour 
were wasted in confirming my impression.* 



* In a similar manner, in the summer of 1849, a vessel reported that she 
had struck upon the Entreprenante rock, ninety miles east of Malta ; where- 
upon H.M. steamers Rosamond, Oberon, and Spitfire, were sent to the ground 
which I had so often passed over. The mate of the vessel owned afterwards 
that the whole was a falsehood, advanced to cover their having struck upon 
a point of Malta. Since then another search has been instituted. Between 
the 17th and 23rd of April of this year (1853), H.M. ships Retribution, 
Modeste, Niger, and Spitfire, soimded for twenty miles around the site, with 
from 500 to 2570 fathoms of line out, and no bottom. A costly matter this, 
merely to remove a mare's-nest! 



MODE OF SOUNDING. 391 

From the efforts we made, together with my constantly Opinion, 
gaining all the local knowledge of the pilots and fishermen 
of the various ports I anchored in, it is very improbable 
that there is an unknown hidden danger within the limits 
of my chart Still, to render navigation secure, to the chart 
thus furnished, should be added the prudence and skill of 
the intelligent seaman. 

In conducting these examinations, the soundings between Sounding 

machine. 

twenty and sixty fathoms were usually taken with Massey's 
sounding-machine; but in greater depths we used solid 
leads, there being an apprehension of a collapse of the 
hollow cylinder forming the air-tube of the wings or vanes, 
at depths exceeding 100 or 150 fathoms.* Even with this 
defect there were great advantages in the use of this 
admirable instrument, for in moderate soundings the true 
vertical depth was easily ascertained, without the trouble of 
heaving-to; and we repeatedly reached the ground in 
upwards of forty fathoms while going six or seven knots, 
only rounding-to for catching the angles of objects in view. 
But our men became practically expert ; while the machines 
were always kept in complete order, and duly tested as to 
accuracy. We were also furnished with Birt's buoy-and- Birt*s buoy, 
nipper, but found it more ingenious in theory than satis- 
factory in practice. In very great depths we therefore 
resorted to the older method, of which experience somewhat 
lightened the labour, and helped to overcome the resistance 
and friction which the line had to encounter. 

The temperature of the sea at various depths Was sea tem- 
frequently taken, and registered with that of the atmosphere 
at the time of observation. The instruments used were 
Six's thermometers, which were compared before placing Method 

practised. 



* On informing Dean Buckland that one of these air-tubes was crushed 
quite flat under a pressure of about 300 fathoms, he suggested that the 
cylinder should be fortified by the introduction of transverse plates, acting 
on the principle of the chambered portion of the shells of Nautili and Am- 
monites. (See his Bridgewater Treatise, vol. u, j>j>. 845 and 349.) 



392 HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS. 

them in the cylindrical copper cases attached to a white 
line by which they were immersed, and the index-floats 
duly noted. By these experiments we established various 
local peculiarities, which have been mentioned in the pre- 
ceding pages; but could advance nothing in favour of 
Colonel Williams' theory of ' Thermometrical Navigation/ 
Both in our shore-surveys and in sailing along the 

Heights. coasts, we always noticed the heights of the mountains ; 
but though our observations were corrected for refraction of 
light and the curvature of the earth, they lay no claim to 
great precision, being taken merely for the direction of the 
navigator, by thus affording him pretty fair means of know- 
ing his distance from the shore. Some were settled from 
the offing by their angular heights, with a reflecting instru- 
ment and a patent-log base ; others on land by the barometer, 
the boiling-water point, their zenith distances, and some by 
observing their depressions to the horizon : still the results 
were all entered only as available approximations. And it 
should be mentioned that they are estimated above what is 
termed the ' level of the sea/ which, however, is not so 
uncertain in the Mediterranean as in those waters which 
experience the elevations and depressions of greater tidal 
power. 

Meteoro- The meteorological phenomena were constantly noted 

and duly recorded with those instruments which we had at 
command — namely, the barometers, sympiesometer, thermo- 
meters, and hygrometer, which were subjected to as few 
disturbing influences as possible : in order to avoid inter- 
ference with our other various duties, the regular time of 
observing those instruments was fixed for 8 A.M., when the 
chronometers were wound up and compared ; and the 
observations required for correcting the refraction, we took 
when the astronomical operations which called for the cor- 
rection were in hand. These registers aided very materially 
the conclusions recorded in Part III. of this work, and I am 
satisfied that the study of these matters is equally important 



logy. 



BROAD CORRECTIONS. 393 

to seamanship, agriculture, personal comfort, and medical 
science. 

Such was the adopted routine, and though greater ex- Remark, 
pertness might be found, it is hoped that it would have 
proved difficult to exhibit more zeal and perseverance. In 
so extensive a range of operations, and such a mass of trou- 
blesome arithmetical calculations, errors are unavoidable, 
though none, it is trusted, have crept in which can materially 
affect the accepted results ; for these a liberal allowance 
will be made by those who have learned from experience 
the complex difficulties of such an undertaking. Other sur- 
veyors, with more time, better means, and a longer practice 
of the art, will improve the details from time to time ; but 
I believe the coasts are now so approximately thrown into 
their proper form, that courses may be confidently shaped by 
them, which, it will be recollected, was very far from being 
the case when this survey was commenced. For instance, 
in the most important channel which divides the Mediter- Former 
ranean Basins, the island of Pantellaria bore S.E. of Mare- 
timo on the charts supplied by the Admiralty until 1820, 
whereas it is actually S. by W. : and again, on entering the 
Adriatic, and shaping a course by the isle of Fano, its very 
portal, to Cape Linguetta, in Albania, that course would be 
K 17° E. by the Admiralty chart, but it is really N. 5° W. ; 
so that a ship trusting to the official documents at night, 
and not exerting the restless vigilance which characterizes 
true seamanship, would run on shore under the Acro- 
ceraunian cliffs. 

An attempt was also made to delineate the general topo- Drawing of 
graphical features of the coasts and harbours, and it is 
hoped that the endeavour was not unattended with success : 
still it is not possible, under what may be termed rather a 
revision than a survey, to meet the local knowledge of every 
critical observer on the spot. Public works demand, it is 
true, strict examination, but hyper-criticism only warps the 
judgment, and gives attention a wrong direction ; indeed, in 



394 



CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 



Harsh 
critics. 



Liebig. 



most cases it is just as unfair to catch up an accidental and 
unimportant omission, as was the supercilious conduct of 
that Greek who found fault with a map of Greece as in- 
correct and useless, because his father's house in Athens was 
not noted on it ! Such carpers must be reminded, in the 
words of Liebig, that our duty really is, not to point at the 
supposed blemishes of others, but to labour onwards in the 
cause of accuracy ourselves : ' It is startling/ says he, ' when 
we observe that all the time and energy of genius, talent, 
and knowledge are expended in endeavours to demonstrate 
each other's errors.' 



Remark. 






My charts have long been in the hands of the service, 
and have been used by the fleets of all nations ; they there- 
fore are open to the most stringent criticism of professional 
men. The foregoing strictures should, however, be kept in 
view the while, in order that the nature of my intentions 
may be understood ; and to this may be added, that, as far 
as concerns myself, I only regretted, on quitting the Medi- 
terranean at the close of 1824, with the enlarged means and 
experience we then possessed, that I could not begin the 
whole of my work again. Regrets, however, at not having 
attained a higher degree of perfection, are now unavailing ; 
this part must, therefore, be closed with a catalogue of the 
sheets of surveys which I handed in to the Admiralty, and 
which have, with a few exceptions, been long engraved and 
published in a form not very different from the following 
enumeration of the manuscripts : — 



General 
Chart. 



A chart of the western division of the Mediterranean Sea, on a scale of 
31-I geographical miles to an inch, or about 230 q 600 to nature {see page 
373). Under the title the following note, somewhat bearing upon the whole 
survey, is appended : — 'The basis of this chart is grounded on an entire new 
series of determinations by Captain Smyth, from astronomical, chronome- 
trical, and geodetical operations. The details of the coasts of France and 
Spain, with their dependant islands, are in great part from the charts of 
Tofino, Cassini, and Hell ; and other most authentic documents, examined 
and corrected on the spot. The west coast of Italy and its islands are new 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 



395 



surveys, in the execution of which much assistance was rendered/ in the 
vicinity of Naples, by Colonel Visconti. The Adriatic Sea is constructed 
from the united operations of the Austrian, Neapolitan, and English officers, 
employed under Colonels Campana and Visconti, and Captain Smyth. The 
coast of Africa is laid down under such examinations as circumstances per- 
mitted, by Captain Smyth and his officers ; and the whole intervening sea 
has been examined and sounded with so much attention, as to leave little 
probability of any unmarked danger existing. The reported shoals marked 
with a note of interrogation have not yet been found, though frequently 
sought for ; but are still under search by the tender which Captain Smyth 
left in the Mediterranean for that purpose.' 



Plan of the bay, harbour, and environs of Cadiz, with a view of the 
Alameda, on a scale of 56 q 00 , or fths of a mile to an inch. 



Spain. 



The Strait of Gibraltar, on a scale of n^o <>o j or 1|" miles to the inch ; 
with views of the land from the Cabezos shoal, to the west of Tarifa. 

IV. 

The Rock of Gibraltar ( 12 fl 00 , or ^-th of a mile to an inch) ; with a view 
of the new mole-head, Ape's Hill and Ceuta in the distance. 



General chart of the coast of Spain, from Gibraltar to Alicant, and the 
opposite shores of Barbary ( 010 1 000 , or 12^ miles to one inch) ; with plans 
of Malaga, Almeria, Port Genovds, San Pedro, Carbonera Bay, Port Aguilas, 
Melillah, and Alboran; the general scale of the first six being 40 ^ 00 , or 
§rds of a mile to one inch. 

VI. 

The harbour of Cartagena (^wfj or f * n8 °f a mue *° an inch), with two 
views; and the Columbretes Rocks (aao ' oo * or about |-rd of a mile to one 
inch), with two views of them. 

VII. 

A sheet of Spanish ports — namely, Turilla Bay, Peniscola, Calpe, Altea 
Bay, Isle Grosa, and Alicant ; the last on a scale of 40000 ? or § r( l s °f a mue 
to an inch. 

VIII. 

General chart of the coast of Spain, from Alicant to Palamos and the 
Baleares ( aar/ooo ? or about 12 miles to an inch) ; with plans of Barcelona, 
Tarragona, Grao of Valencia, Port Iviza ( y!< ooo )> Palma Bay ( ,^ ), and 
Port Cabrera ( 12 \ . , - , ). 

IX. 

Plan of the harbour and environs of Port Mahon, in Minorca, on a scale 
of T 1 5 00 , or about ^th of a geographical mile to one inch ; with a view of 
Lazzaretto isle. 



General chart of the south coast of France, and part of Catalonia, on a y I{ VN(1 . 



scale of in 



or about 9$ miles to an inch; with plans of Calliourc, 



Vendres, Cadaques, Tusa, Blanes, and Palamos. 



396 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 



Fjrance . 



XI. 

The coast of France, from the mouth of the Ehone to Eiou isle, containing 
the gulfs of Foz and Marseilles dnmnr* or ]i mile to the inch) ; with a view 
of Planier lighthouse. 

XII. 

The port and roads of Marseilles ( 15 ^ 00 , or ^th of a mile to an inch) ; and 
the Cassidaigne Eock ( oo ^ 60 , or about fths of a mile to the inch), with views 
of Cassis and the Bee de 1 Aigle. 

XIII. 

The harbour and road of Toulon, with the adjacent coast, on a scale of 
s-oooo ; or nearly one mile to an inch. 



XIV. 



Chart of the coast of France, from the Peninsula of Giens to Cape Eoux, 
or from Hieres Bay to the Gulf of Frejus ( lao 1 000 , or If miles to an inch) ; 
with a view of the fort on Port Cross island. 



Italy. 



Chart of the coast of France and Italy, from Cape Eoux to Monaco (j-wwu^t 
or one mile to an inch) ; with a view of the Lerins isles from Cannes, and a 
plan of Monaco (-^hnr)- 

XVI. 

The harbour of Villa Franca and its vicinity, on a scale of l3 ^ 50 , or ith 
of a mile to one inch ; with views of the town and castle of Villa Franca and 
the city of Nice. 



Chart of the coast of Italy, from Ventimiglia to Piombino, or the Gulf of 



Gallinara ( a8 £ 6o ), Gorgona ( n 5oo) > and Finale (yu-brr). 



XVIII. 

A sheet of plans, containing the road and vicinity of Vado, the Bay of 
Noli, and Porto Maurizio, each on a scale of $4500 , or about £rd of a mile 
to one inch. 

XIX. 

A sheet of plans, containing Genoa harbour (toutf); w ^h a view of the 
lighthouse ; with Porto Fino and Sestri a Levante, on a scale of ^ 4 5 06 , or ^rd 
of a mile to the inch. 

xx. 

The Gulf of Spezia ( 28 ^ 06 ), and a plan of the road, town, and environs of 
Via Eeggio ( 84: % 00 -, or 1|- mile to one inch). 



A sheet of plans, containing Capraja island ( 60 ^ 60 ) , the Mouth of the 
Arno (37000) * an( ^ the town and road of Leghorn on a scale of a6 Q 00 , or 
about \ a mile to one inch. 

XXII. 

General chart of the west coast of Italy, from Piombino to Civita Vecchia, 
and the Tuscan Islands (rs7nnnr> or about 3f miles to the inch) ; with plans 
of Pianosa isle ( S5 ooe )> Fort Campo ( 48 !oo) j Piombino ( 50 ooo )j Formicheof 
- 1 —j), and Gianuti isle ( 50 ooo)- 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 



397 



A sheet of plans, containing Giglio island, on a scale of 



or about Italy. 



fths of a mile to the inch ; Palmajola Channel (^ 
( -2 ±1 oo ), Porto Ferrajo ( lg l 60 ), and Orbitello. 



rv), Porto Longone 



General chart of the west coast of Italy, from Civita Vecchia to the Gulf 
of Naples ( 3(i5 1 000 , or about 5-| miles to an inch) ; with plans of Terracina 



Uiloo) , Porto d'Anzo ( ia £ 60 ) , and Civita Vecchia ( l3 ooo )- 

XXV. 

The Ponza Islands, on a scale of 85 ^ 0o , or 1^- geographical miles to the 
inch; with views of Zannone and Capo di Guardia, and a plan of Port 
Madonna ( 10 % so ). 

XXVI. 

The Crater or Gulf of Naples, and its islands ( d d 1 -, or 1|- geographical 
miles to one inch) ; with views of Ischia and Capri. 



General chart of the west coast of Italy from Naples to Cape Vaticano 
(scale -<nnnrtnr> or about 8f- miles to an inch) ; with plans of i Galli Rocks 
( 23300 ); Psestum in Agropoli Bay ( 60 ooo ); and D" 10 Isl e a nd Bay ( att | 00 ). 



xxvin. 
The island of Corsica, with the Tuscan islands (gmnnnr? or °r m iles to Corsica. 
the inch) ; with plans of San Fiorenzo, Isola Rossa, Calvi, Porto Vecchio, 
and Bastia (each on the scale 42500 )- 



XXIX. 



A sheet with a plan of the Gulf of Ajaccio, on a scale of ± a * yp ; and the 
Road of Capo Corso ( i6 g 00 ) , with two views of the land. 



The Strait of Bonifaccio, between Corsica and Sardinia ( Sd l 6 - 6 -, or nearly 
a mile to an inch) ; with plans of Lavezzi and its rock, the harbour of Boni- 
faccio, and the isle of Cavallo. 



XXXI. 



A general chart of the island of Sardinia, on a scale of 610 1 d00 , or 7 miles Sardinia. 
to an inch ; with small plans of Port Longo Sardo and the Bay of Tortoli. 



XXXII. 



The Gulf of Asmara, on the north-west coast of Sardinia (j 



or !• 



miles to the inch) ; with a plan of the Road of Porto Torres, and a view of 
Castel Sardo. 

XXXIII. 
The north-east coast of Sardinia and its adjacent islands ^hyu> or about 
1^ miles to one inch) ; with plans of Maddalena and Porto Cervo, and a view 
of Capo dell' Urso. 



398 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 



XXXIV. 

Sardinia. A sheet of Sardinian ports — namely, Ports Conte and Alghero ( 82 ooo )> 

with a view of Capo della Caccia; the Channel of San Pietro ( a2 ^ 06 ), with 
a view of Point Colonne ; and Cagliari Bay ( 2 ^ 00 ), with a view of the city 
from the anchorage. 

xxxv. 
The south coast of Sardinia, on a scale of 2 ^ g 1 ^ 6 , or about 3§- miles to 
the inch ; with views of San Pietro, and the G-allo Rock, off the west point 
of San Pietro. 

xxxvi. 
Sicily. A general chart of Sicily, Malta, the adjacent islands, and parts of Italy, 

Sardinia, and Africa. Scale sWuinj"* or aDOU t Hi miles to one inch. 

XXXVII. 

A map of Sicily, on a scale of 5l5 1 000 , or 7 miles to the inch ; reduced 
and corrected from Baron Schmettau's large manuscript map on thirty sheets, 
lent me by the Sicilian government. 

XXXVIII. 

Chart of the west coast of Sicily, and the iEgadean islands ( ia8 1 000 , or 
2f geographical miles to the inch) ; with part of the gulf of Castell'a mare. 



xxxix. 

A sheet of coast views : — 1. From the shoal off Cape San Vito. 
the shoal off Emilia point. 3. Trapani from the Asinello rock. 4, 
from the outer shoal. 5. The town of Mazzara from the roads. 



2. From 
Marsala 



The anchorages and vicinity of Trapani, on a scale of aeloo , or about 1^ 
miles to an inch ; with views of Maretimo Castle and the Saracenic tower on 
Mount St. Julian, and an ancient coin of Eryx for identity of site. 



Chart of the north coast of Sicily and the adjacent islands (^xnnnr? or 
6^ miles to the inch) ; with views of the rock of Scylla and the Faro point. 



Plan of the island of Ustica ( 28 86o ) ; with a view of the bay and town of 
Santa Maria, in the same island, and an ancient coin ascribed to it. 



XLIII. 

Plan of the environs and gulf of Palermo (rxinnrj or about one mile to 
an inch) ; with views of Cape Di Gallo and Cape Zaffarano, and an ancient 
coin of Soluntum. 

XLIV. 

Plan of the bay and city of Palermo, on a scale of 15 q ( )0 , or about 3-th 
of a mile to an inch ; with a view of the Ponte dell'Ammiraglio over the 
Oretus, and an ancient coin of Panormus for identity of site. 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 399 

XLV. 

A sheet of coast views : — 1. Bay of Palermo. 2. Cefalu bearing east by Sicily 
south five miles distant. 3. The channel between Sicily and the iEolian 
Islands. 4. Distant views of the entrance into the Faro Channel. 

XL VI. 

Plan of the Lipari group, or iEolian Islands, on the north coast of Sicily ; 
to a scale of l45 1 000 , or about two miles to the inch. 

XLVII. 

Plan of the bay of Lipari ( a0 ^ 60 ), with an ancient coin of the island, and 
a view of the city of Lipari. Plan of Olivieri Bay ( 17 ^ 00 ), with an ancient 
coin of Tyndaris, and a view of Cape Tindaro. 

XL VIII. 

A sheet of coast views: — 1. The channel between the islands of Lipari 
and Vulcano. 2. Panaria, Basiluzzo, &c, and Stromboli, from Exmouth 
Bank. 3. The iEolian Islands as seen from the Penrose Pocks. 4. The Strait 
of Messina, from the anchorage on the shoal off the Faro point. 

XLLX. 

The city, bay, and promontory of Milazza, on a natural scale of 11 ^ ))(> , 
or about £th of a mile to one inch ; with a view of the town and castle, from 
near the Tonnara. 

L. 

A general chart of the east coast of Sicily and the south part of Calabria. 
Scale aoVooo * or ^ our miles to the inch. 

LI. 

Plan of the Faro or Strait of Messina ( ^ 00 , or f-ths of a geographical 
mile to an inch) ; with a view of Scilla Castle. 

LIT. 

Plan of the city and harbour of Messina, on a scale of ^/ 00 , or about 
^th of a mile to the inch. An ancient coin of Messina for identity of site 
and symbol 

LIII. 

A sheet of coast views : — 1. The city and harbour of Messina. 2. Mount 
iEtna, as seen from off Schisb point. 3. View of the Cyclop islets. 4. The 
city and port of Catania. 

LIV. 

Plan of the bay and environs of Taormina Goooo ) ; with views of the city 
of Taormina and Schisb point, and ancient coins of Tauromenium and Naxos. 

LV. 



inch) ; with a view of the town and Torre d'Avola lighthouse, and a coil] of 
the ancient Megara. 



400 CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 

LVI. 

Sicily. The city, harbour, and environs of Syracuse, on a natural scale of l3 ^ 06 , 

or about ^-th of a mile to the inch ; with a view of the port from the temple 
of Jupiter Olympius, and two ancient coins for identity of site. 

LVII. 

A sheet of coast views: — 1. The port and castle of La Bruca. 2. The 
city and port of Syracuse. 3. Cape Passaro bearing south-south-east about 
six miles. 4. The town and road of Alicata. 

LVIII. 

General chart of the south coast of Sicily ( gs^ooo ? or 5^-th miles to one 
inch.) ; with a plan of Alicata, and views of Cape Passaro from off the ton- 
nara, and from the south. 

LIX. 

Plan of the city, environs, and anchorage of Girgenti ( 5 ^ 00 , or about 
|- a mile to an inch) ; with a view of the city from the temple of iEsculapius, 
a coin of Agrigentum for identity, and another of the tyrant Phintias. 

LX. 
A sheet of coast views: — 1. The mole of Girgenti, as seen from the 
temple of the Virgins. 2. Appearance of the south-west point of Sicily. 
3. The island of Pantellaria. 4. Cape Dimitri, off Goza. 5. Appearance 
of Malta and Goza when passing Comino. 

LXI. 

The town and port of Pantellaria (55*00 ), with a view of the town, and an 
ancient coin of Cossyra ; also a plan of the harbour of Lampedusa on a 
natural scale of y^j-g-. 

LXII. 

Plan of the island of Linosa ( aa ^ 00 , or \ a mile to an inch), with a view 
of its south coast; and a plan of Lampedusa and Lampion on a scale of 



Maltese 



lxiii. 
Hydro-geographic map of the Maltese islands and rocks, on a natural 



islands, scale of a4 % 00 , or one ^ mile to one inch. 

LXIV. 

Plan of St. Paul's Bay ( d ^e>6 ) or "11 mile to an inch) ; with a view of 
the tower and battery on Koura point, and a view of the Salmona palace. 

LXV. 
The city, towns, fortifications, and harbours of Valetta, on a natural scale 
of s^g, or "12 mile to an inch ; with a view of the castle and lighthouse of 
Sant' Elmo, one of the castle of Sant' Angelo, and a third of Valetta from a 
distance. 

LXVI. 

Plan o Marsa Scirocco bay (g-^nr, or 013 mile to the inch) ; with a view 
of its commanding fortress, St. Lucian's tower-redoubt. 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 401 



General chart of the south-east coast of Italy, from Cape Spartivento Calabria. 
round Cape Santa Maria di Leuca, and into the Adriatic to Polignano 
( ovo^oo ? or nearly 8 miles to an inch); with plans of Cotrone (- 8 -/ 61T ), Taranto 
( aaooo) , and GaUipoli ( 5a | 00 )- 

LXVIII. 

A sheet containing plans of the harbour of Brindisi ( 31 ^ 50 , or "44 mile Naples 
to the inch), the port of Otranto ( 35 ooo )> an d the Tremiti or Diomedeae isles east. 
^ 30 5 00 , or '41 mile to an inch). 

LXIX. 

General chart of the east coast of Italy, from Monopoli and Polignano to 
Fossaceca (xuinnnr)> or §\ miles to one inch ; with plans of Barletta. ( 32 ooo) > 
Viesti ( 24; Y6o ), Manfredonia ( 2e ^ 00 ), and Pianosa Rock ( a0 £ 00 ). 

LXX. 

General chart of the east coast of Italy, from Fossaceca to Rimino, on a p APAIj 
natural scale of ■ 4 oo 1 ooo > or nearly 5\ miles to the inch ; with plans of Ortona States. 
(i706o )> Fano ( 2 ^ 00 ), Rimino ( 2 . 22 - o), Fesaro ( 30 ooo) > Sinigaglia ( 22 £ o )> 
and Porto Nuovo ( 4 6ooo )- 

LXXI. 

Plan of the city, fortifications, and port of Ancona, on a natural scale of 
12 ±oo > or '17 mile to the inch ; with a general view of the citadel and mole 
as seen from off Mount Conero. 

LXXII. 

General chart of the coasts of Italy and Istria, from Kimino to Cape Pro- y EN1CE . 
montore (a-roinro or ^'8 miles to one inch). This comprehends the north 
part of the Adriatic Sea, and is locally termed the Gulf of Venice. 



A sheet containing a particular plan of Venice and its anchorages 
(•sttsutt) j Porto di Chioggia on the same scale ; and the free-port of Trieste 
d 2 ooo )- With a view of the city and the Porporello, from the anchorage 
off Malamocco. 

LXXIV. 

A sheet of Istrian ports — namely, Pirano ( 4 ^? 06 ), Omago ( T - s -g ir!T ) , ports Istria. 
Quieto and Cittanova ( 2 ^ 00 ), Parenzo ( 11250 ), Orsera and the Lemo Canale 
to Rovigno (irrhni)* antl Port Veruda ( 20 ooo )- 



The harbours of Fasana and Pola, with the Brioni islands, on a scale of 
2 ofloo to nature, or *27 mile to an inch ; and a view of the amphitheatre 
and watering-place. 

LXXVI. 

A general chart of the coasts of Croatia and Dalmatia, from Cape Pro- Croatia. 
montore to Slozella, comprehending the Quarnero, Quarnerolo, Morlacca, 
Maltempo, and Zara channels, on a scale of g^po , or 4*8 miles to the inch ; 
with plans of Kerso (vr$w)> Porio Re (To~hn>)> San Pietro di Nembo (^ \ ,-, „), 
and Unie Bay ( 34000 )- 

D D 



402 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 



LXXVII. 
Dalmatia. A sheet containing ports of Croatia and Dalmatia — namely, Port Au- 
gusto, in Lossin Piccolo ( 29 50o ) Port Beguglia ( 5 ^oo) > with a view of 
Bianche lighthouse, Zara and its harbour (ows)* the strait of Pasman 
( 39 io o)> Morter Canale Gnmnr), and Port Tajer ( 46 £ 60 ) . 



Plan of Port Sebenico, with the outer channels and Vodizze road ( 64 ooo )? 
the port of Ragosnitza ( 6y o o) ; and the bay of Spalatro (hqoo )- 

LXXIX. 

General chart of the coast of Dalmatia, from Zara Vecchia to Ragusa 
Vecchia (^^soo ? or ^f- miles to the inch) ; with plans of Pelagosa rocks 
(uwutt)* an( l P or ts Lago and Rosso on Lagosto island ( 66 5 00 ). 



A sheet of Dalmatian ports, containing Lessina and its Canale (rrtnnr) > 
Port S. Giorgio in Lissa ( 20 g 66 ) ; Valle grande of Curzola ( e22o0 ) ; the 
Canale di Curzola (rrrsTnr) > T or t Milna of Brazza, in the canale di Spalatro 



(3 9 o rg) '■> an( l Rorto Palazzo in Meleda (? 



LXXXI. 

Ragusa and the Kalamota channels, with the rocks and bay of Ragusa 
Vecchia. On a natural scale of ^floo , or about one mile to a linear inch. 



LXXXII. 



Albania. General chart of the coast of Albania, from Ragusa Vecchia to Port 



Palermo, with a part of the opposite coast of Italy (tstottoj 
the inch), and an enlarged sketch of the coves under Kimara. 



or 61- miles to 



Plan of the gulf of Cattaro (Bocche di Cattaro), on a natural scale of 
7(i 5 00 , or about one geographical mile to an inch, with a plan of Porto di 
Budua ( ailoo) ? an( i ^ ne ^ e 0I> S. Niccolb. 

LXXXIV. 

A sheet of Albanian ports — namely, Antivari bay ( 59 q 06 ), Dulcigno 
road (42500) * Durazzo bay ( 82 £ 00 ) , Aulona or Valona bay (x^nnr)? Port 
Palermo (^J^), and Parga { TW ^). 



Ionian General chart of the channels of Corfu, with the adjacent coast of Albania 

Islands, ( ag^ooo? or about 3^ miles to an inch) ; with plans of Alipa and San Mccolo 
in Yhapades bay ( 2Q ^ 00 ), Port Gayo in Paxo (r^nnr)? and Port Laka in the 
same island ( 21 | 60 ). 



LXXXVI. 

The town and road of Corfu, with the environs from Ulysses rock to 
Porto Govino, on a scale of 2e ^ 00 , or ^ of a mile to a linear inch ; with views 
of the town and citadel. 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 403 

LXXXVH. 

General chart of the central Ionian Islands, with the opposite coast of Ionian 
Greece from Parga to the mouth of the Alpheius, with the gulfs of Arta and Islands. 
Patras (rsTnnnr)* or ^r mues to an inch) ; with four views from particular 
points. 



A sheet of Ionian ports, containing Santa Maura and its vicinity ( 70 ^ 00 ), 
Port Vliko in Leucadia ( 52 ^ 60 ), Dragamesti and the Echinades ( 7( ^ 60 ), 
Port Vathi in Ithaca ( 15 ooo )> E Qr t Argostoh in Cephalonia, with two views 
( 111 1 o00 ), and Zante Bay ( aiS g 60 ) , with a view of the bay from the lazzaretto. 



A general chart of the west coast of the Morea, from Gastouni river to Morea. 
the Gulf of Koron ( 25 / 0Q0 ), or 3 §- miles to the inch) ; with a plan and view 
of the Stamfane or Strivali rocks ( 65 q 00 ), and Mothoni or Modon, Port 
Longona of Sapienza, and the road of Koron, each on a scale of a2 ^ 00 . 



Plan of the town and harbour of Navarin, or Neo Kastro, with the 
Paled Kastro or ancient Pylus, on a natural scale of 37 ^ 00 , or half a geo- 
graphical mile to the inch. 

xci. 

General chart of the coast of the Morea, from Venetico Island to Kyparisi, 
with the Cervi and Cerigo channels into the Archipelago ( 250 1 000 , or 3§ 
miles to the inch). Also plans of Port Nikolo in Cerigo ( a6 ^ 00 ) , Kapsali 
bay in Cerigo (-0-5^- 
mile to an inch. 



Chart of the coast of Egypt, from Al Awa'id to the Rosetta mouth of the Egvpt. 
Nile dzmnnnr* or about 3 miles to the inch) ; with views of Abukeer Castle, 
and the Arab's Tower. 



Plan of the city, environs, and harbours of Alexandria, on a scale of 
scooo j or £ of a mile to the inch; with the Pharos enlarged {-^- TS ), and a 
view of it. Also a view of Alexandria from the anchorage. 



General chart of the north coast of Africa, from Alexandria to Ras al 
Kalal (t 2 7 6oo o> or 17£ miles to an inch); with plans of Ras al Halal 
Gimnnr)* R as et T y n (rshnr)> Marsa Tel)ruk (st^ott), Dernah (yshnr) ', a,1(1 
Ishailah rocks, Marsa Labeit, and Marsa Mahadda, each Tnnroiro> or %t 
inches to a mile. 

xcv. 

Plan of the Gulf of Bombah and tbe adjacent isles, on a natural BCale of 
salvo , or 7 'tlis of a mile to a linear inch ; with a view of Bhurd&h Isle from 
the north-east. 

I) 1) 2 



404 



CATALOGUE OF THE SURVEY. 



XCVI. 

Tripoli. General chart of the coast of Barbary from Marsa Susah to Misratah, 

forming the Gulf of Sidra or Greater Syrtis (x asoooo ? or about 18^- miles to 
an inch). On this sheet are also plans of Marsa Bureigah (^j), Gharah 
Rocks (iinmnr)* Benghazi (n^), Marsa Susah {^m), Tolmeitah ( 29 | 00 ), 
and Marsa Zafran ( i4 | 00 ) . 



A general chart of the coast of Barbary, from Melhafah in the Syrtis to 
Karkarish on the west of Tripoli (^cnnju-j or &h miles to the inch) ; with a 
plan and view of the ruins of Leptis Magna ( 84 ooo )? and Marsa Ugrah 

(soooo)' 



XCVIII. 

The harbour and environs of Tripoli, on a scale of 15 e ()0 , or \ 
an inch ; with a view of the fortifications from the outer roads, 
from the middle of the harbour. 



of a mile to 
and another 



XCIX. 



Tunis. A general chart of the coast of Barbary, from Ras al Amrah in Tripoli to 

Tabulbah in Tunis, including the Gulf of Khabs or Lesser Syrtis ( r 6 o a ooo ? 
or about 10^ miles to the inch) ; with plans of the Bukal channel of Jerbah 
Wo o o) > and Tripoli Vecchio (mmm)- 



General chart of the coast of Barbary, from Cape Africa in Tunis to the 



Fratelli rocks (g 



or 6% miles to the inch) ; with 



or Africa city ( 95 | 00 ) , and another of the Fratelli rocks ( : 



plan of Mehediah 
ihnj), or about 



f ths of a mile to an inch. 



A sheet of Tunisian ports, containing the Bay of Bizertah, the details of 
Cape Bon, Monastir Bay and the Kuriah Isles, and the lake and environs of 
Tunis, with the vestiges of Carthage ; the last on a natural scale of 94 oo o> 
or 1^ of a geographical mile to one inch. 

CII. 

Algeria. A sheet of Barbary plans, namely, the port and isle of Tabarkah, ^ of a 

mile to one inch ; the bay and beaches of Ustorah, and the Galita Islands, 
the last on a scale of 2^250 ? or ^ of a mile to an inch ; with a view of Galita 
and Galitona. 



General chart of the coast of Barbary, from the Fratelli rocks of Tunis to 
the Pisan rocks of Algeria ( fe50 x 5() - , or nearly 9 miles to an inch) ; with plans 
of Bujeyah ( l5 /oo6 )> tne Fisan rocks ( 32 ooo )> Port Jigeli (grijw); Kolah 
( 72 % 00 ) , Al Kal'ah cove d^oo) and Bonah bay (rWinnr)- Also views of 
Cape Carbon and the Pisan rocks, and the town and castle of Bonah. 

civ. 
A general chart of the coast of Barbary, from Bujeyah in Algeria to the 
Zaphran Isles on the coast of Morocco ( nolooo ) '■> with plans of the cove at 



REMARK OX THE SURVEY. 405 

Sidi Ferej, and the port of Waharan (r^y^nr)- Th* 3 remainder of the coast of Morocco. 
Barbary, from the Zaphran Isles to the Atlantic Ocean, is on plate No. V. 



A sheet with the city, bay, and environs of Algiers ( 58 y oo )> an( ^ ^ ne 
Zaphran Isles, the scale of the latter being ^soo ; or about '15 mile to one 
inch; with two views, one of the city of Algiers, the other of the Ja'ferei, 
or greater Zaphran. 



Such being the results of my surveys and re-examina- On the 
tions, I am prepared to show — more in confidence than 
presumption — that, however much these charts may fall 
short of that fulness in detail and delicacy of finish which 
more time and strength would have enabled us to give 
them, they are quite equal to every reasonable requirement 
of the navigator ; and generally also to the engineer and 
the inquiring traveller. But that is not all : the school thus 
formed has flourished, and my survey may be said to have My survey 

extended. 

been continued into the East. When Captain Copeland 
was despatched to the Levant, two of my officers — Cooling 
and Wolfe — were placed with him ; while Messrs. Elson and 
West were making use of such opportunities as offered, on 
the same station. At length my zealous e leve, Captain 
Graves, after returning from an arduous voyage to Magellan's Captain 
Strait under Captain P. P. King, in our old ship the Ad- 
venture, assumed the surveying tiller in the Levant, and 
most successfully guided an enlarged and efficient establish- 
ment for many years. The effect of unanimity and talent 
has been truly gratifying ; insomuch that there results a 
mass of Archipelagan charts and plans of so high a quality 
in detail, accuracy, and finish, that any naval officer may be 
proud on scrutinizing them. Altogether, whatever improve- 
ment in the art of marine surveying may yet arise, it can 
safely be asserted that Mediterranean chartography can Prediction. 
never again incur such reproaches as those recorded on 
pages 354 to 356. Forty years have, indeed, worked 
wonders in meeting the scientific wants of the seaman. 



406 



PART V. 



ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE ADOPTED; 
THE GEOGRAPHICAL POINTS — OR CO-ORDINATES OF 
LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, AND HEIGHT — OF THE MEDITER- 
RANEAN SHORES ; WITH THE VARIATION OF THE 
MAGNETIC NEEDLE, AND OTHER NOTANDA. 



§ 1. On the Orthography and Nomenclature 
adopted. 



matter, 



Geographi- TTTE have now arrived at the fundamental end and aim 
* " of all the before-mentioned operations — namely, the 
register of the Geographical Points by which all the former 
Mediterranean charts are reformed ; and as this tabular 
exhibition contains certain symbols for reference, they neces- 
sarily require some explanation in order to obviate needless 
subsequent repetition. 

Prefatory In the first place, the attempt at reconciling the dis- 

cordant orthography and even the nomenclature of islands, 
towns, ports, and headlands, ought to be expressly stated, in 
order to prevent misunderstanding where an apparent discre- 
pancy occurs ; and in the identifying of ancient and modern 
sites now offered, the reader must accept of my responsibility, 
instead of being troubled, through a long series, with fathoms 
of discussion and contending authorities. Thinking, with 
Cervantes, that annotations such as those he alludes to — 
* Goliah, Golias, or Goliat the Philistine' — rather retard 
than illustrate, I have endeavoured to enrol only what is 
demanded by the object in view ; and throughout the 



ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 407 

survey I have sought to preserve the local name in actual 
use, the spelling of which has been as much as possible 
fashioned by that of the inhabitants. Thus, in the coasts 
of Spain, France, and Italy, the orthography of the natives 
is carefully followed — except where the spelling has been so 
Anglicized by custom, and apocope, as to have become verna- usage, 
cularly adopted into our language ; and a departure from such 
adaptations might be stigmatized as an affectation by correct 
writers, however they may have become familiarized by our 
continual intercourse with the Continent, and by the ex- 
ample of some whose education teaches them French rather 
than English grammar. In Greece and Barbary, on the 
other hand, where the alphabets totally differ from our own, Differing 

ti i t i • • i i i • • alphabets. 

1 have declined receiving the names through any rntervening 
channel, and have transferred, as well as obvious imperfec- 
tions will admit, from the common pronunciation directly 
into English. Our borrowing Eastern names through the 
filter of other tongues of western Europe, has been both 
absurd and mischievous ; and it is curious what singular 
errors and misconceptions have originated from a cause 
apparently so insignificant. 

Yet although along the coasts of France and Italy I Remark 
have almost invariably followed the French and Italian 
nomenclature, on that of Spain a slight discretion has 
been used where the name is not truly Spanish. That 
language is one of the most pure in Europe, but its guttural 
enunciation has hampered their writing of foreign terms — 
as Guadalquiver (Wad el Kebir), Alfaques (El Fakkah), 
Oran (Wahrdn), Mazalquiver (Marsa 'I Kebir), Algeciras 
(Al Jezeirat*). These are certainly merely naturalized 
words, for, as Don Quixote told Sancho, ' the name of 
Albogues is Moorish, as are all those in our language be- 



* This common word for island is usually spelt with t ; but the final h is 
only sounded as t before a following vowel— Jeze'irat-ud-khadhr;i, the Green 
Island, is the complete name. Jezeirat should be pronounced so as to rhyme 
with ' fire at.' 






408 ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 

Spanish ginning with al ; * but even in the old Spanish the ortho- 
graphy is by no means uniform, and certain letters, which 
in that language have the same sound to a Spaniard's ear, 
are often used for each other, as b and v — c, z, s, and g — 
and g, j, x. Some confusion has arisen, also, from our ren- 
dering their word Monte by mountain, whereas it often 
merely marks a copse or thicket ; and others of their geo- 
graphical terms are incurably difficult for the mouth of a 
foreigner, as Jaraicijo, the name of a Spanish town whence 
the Duke of Wellington wrote his pithy letter to General 
Eguia, in 1809, and which no one but a native ever pro- 
nounced properly. If spelt 'Haraiceho, it might be better 
aspirated by an Englishman at sight. 

Variations in orthography are not confined to Spain ; 
and though I have almost followed the French and Italians 
on their own coasts, it has been with that degree of caution 
that custom has not been violated without substantial 

Names with reason. On this account no alteration in the spelling has 

meaning. . . 

taken place which would injure the sense, since so many 
names have meanings — as the puntals, Olla, Cabezos, 
Palos,and Palomas, of the Spaniards; the Seche, Fourmigues, 
Gabiniere, of the French ; the Bonaria, Capraja, Maremme, 
of the Italians; and the Cranae, Styli, Zancle, Ga'idero- 
nesos, Drepanum, Myconus, Hydrussa, and Strongyle, of the 
Greeks : not a few being derived from parts of the human 
frame, as brow and foot of a mountain ; an arm of the sea, 



* ' Yeste nombre Albogues es Morisco, comolo son todos aquellos, que en 
nuestra lingua Castellana comiencan en AL.' While on this topic, a glance 
may be allowed at the recent rendering of Cape Trafalgar into Head of 
Laurels, and the consequent unnecessary compliments to Nelson. Taraf- 
al-ghur literally means Cape Cave, or Cavern Point : taraf when rapidly 
uttered is either tarf or traf, meaning extremity, angle, side, direction, &c. 
Al ghdr may signify bay-tree, the ancient laurus; but it is very unlikely 
that an Arab would call a point of land covered with laurels, taraf al 
ghdr; and certainly, from well knowing the spot and its elemental visitations, 
I should have strong doubts of a bay-tree's ever having grown there. That 
both wind and sea have unceasingly attacked it for many ages, is attested by 
its aspect and the adjacent shoals. 



ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 409 

and its sleeve ; a tongue of land ; a ness, or nose of land ; Italian 
a vein of ore ; a head-l&nd, &c. The old geographers of 
Italy, before the complete change had taken place which 
resolved the Latin into an Italian language, were nearer to 
our mode of writing than they are now. In the fine Por- 
tolano of Canachi already mentioned, Legorno, Florentia, 
and Neapolis, appear for Livorno, Firenze, and Napoli of 
the present day ; and assuredly the classic enunciation of 
the two last cities assimilates more with the English names 
— also our adjective, Neapolitan — than with the modern 
Italian. Leghorn he has even written in Greek characters, Leghorn. 
Aeyopvo (see page 331) ; and others of the same epoch 
(circa 1550) term it Legorne, Ligorna, and Ligorno, which 
last was adopted by Crescentio, in 1607.* 

The general rule for spelling Greek names, in the Latin Greek 

& . . names. 

mode, is hardly applicable to modern Greek, wherein accent 
and emphasis are now one and the same thing, whereas an- 
ciently accent was — as its name signifies — intonation : and 
where the consonants and vowels have very different sounds 
from those given to them by the ancient Greeks and Romans. 
Well-educated Hellenians have latterly been anxious, almost 
to affectation and pedantry, in their attempts to restore or 
to appropriate the ancient geographical names to places 



* I have been the more particular in this statement, because some of our 
superficial linguists — following each other — have stigmatized these names as 
being exclusively British violations of lingual purity. A floundering wit 
asserts that though the English profess to abhor assassination, they have 
made no scruple of murdering the names of both the Tuscan capital and its 
seaport: ' And who,' he asks, 'would ever have thought that such a word 
as Naples could have possibly been Anglicized from the sweet-sounding 
Napoli?' Purdy (Mediterranean Directory, 1820, page91) has it ' Livokno, 
the chief port of Tuscany, commonly, by the French, called Livourne; by 
the English, Leghorn: a barbarism sanctioned by custom.' ' We will now 
transport the reader,' says Conder {Italy, xol. iii. page 51) 'to the bustling 
commercial city of Livorno, which John Bull only knows by the uncouth 
Dame of Leghorn.' Even the Penny Cyclopaedia, less courteous than Mr. 
Purdy to established right, refuses to describe the port under ' Leghorn,' 
saying, 'see Livorno.' On referring to the modem Italian word, the 
parentage of the former is thus made over to us: ' Livorno, called, by cor- 
ruption, Leghorn bj the English.' 



410 ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 

celebrated in the annals of their classical ages. But even 
the renowned cities of Athens, and Thebes, and Eleusis, 
with the islands of Delos, and Lenmos, and Cos, and many 
other time-sanctified places, of which the names have never 
been changed nor altered since the early days of Greece, 
have assumed such trivial appellations in maps and charts 
as to leave few traces of their original to the eye, or at least 

causes of to the ear of the experienced inquirer. These changes are 
owing to several causes, exclusive of the operation of time 
and the influence of a general decay in the Greek language ; 
we may enumerate four of the most obvious : 

From I. By the zeal and piety of the Christian emperors, 

religious 

motives, who were ever making dedications to the Virgin Mary, or 
to angels, saints, and martyrs of the Greek Church. An 
instance of this may be seen at Ephesus. When the 
worship of Diana was abolished in that renowned city, its 
temple, and the place itself, were dedicated to and named 
after St. John the Evangelist, its first bishop. Leucadia 
has in a similar way become "Ayia Mavpa, or Santa Maura. 
Many other places have been christened Panagla, San 
Giorgio, San Michele, San Demetrio : and in like manner 
the peninsula of Athos assumed the name of "Ayiov "Opog, 
or Monte Santo. Stavros, the Cross, has become a common 
and respected designation. 

II. By Latin or Frank Conquerors of the Eastern 
Empire. — An example of an ancient Hellenic name 
changed by the modern Greeks, and abruptly corrupted 
by the Frank conquerors, occurs with respect to the island 
of Eubcea. The modern Greeks seem to have discontinued 
Emipus. the use of that name, and to have called the place Evpnrog, 
Evripo, from the celebrated channel which divides it from 
Bceotia. But when the Franks took possession of it, they 
seem to have mistaken ug tov "Eypnrov for v "Eypnrov, call- 
ing it first, Egripo, and then Negropon. The bridge which 
crosses this channel, uniting Eubcea to the main land, may 
have suggested the addition of a final syllable : and thus 



ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 411 

becoming Negroponte, the Black bridge, has usurped the 
honour of Euripus. 

A similar wish to assign a significant name to the 
principal port or harbour of Athens, induced the Venetians 
to change the name of Piraeus to Porto Dracone, and after- Porto 
wards to Porto Leone, in allusion to the sculptured lions at 
the extremities of the piers of the artificial harbour. So, 
also, they degraded Mount Hymettus into Monte Matto, 
whence the Trelo vouni, or mad mountain of the Turks. 
The promontory of Sunium, in Attica, was called Capo 
Colonne by the Venetians, as Phigalia is called Styli (the styii. 
columns) by the modern Greeks, on account of the marble 
colonnades of the temples still remaining there. So Port 
Prasise, in Attica, gained the designation of Porto Raphti, Kaphti. 
from a statue on an islet there which resembled a raphtis, 
or sempstress in attitude. 

The Cyclades were called by the modern Greeks Dode- 
ka-nesi (twelve islands) ; but on the successes of the flag of 
St. Mark they became Duca-nesi, in honour of the Dukes Duca-nesi. 
or Doges of Venice ; and as the Isthmus of Corinth is about 
six miles across, its name was changed to Hexamili, an Hexamiii. 
appellation which has almost become generic for an 
isthmus, such as that of the Thracian Chersonesus, and 
others. 

III. By the domination of the Turks. — The changes Turkish 
superinduced by the Turkish conquerors on these corrup- 
tions by modern Greeks and Franks, have still more dis- 
figured the names of celebrated places. Thus Ephesus, Ephesus. 
after having been changed into "Ayiog QeoXoyog by the 
Greek Christians, has been corrupted by the Turks into 
Ayasolook, to avoid sounding the y an ^ the 0. For the 
latter reason Thessalonica was made into Saloniki. Among 
other contractions and deprivations, they are accused of 
having carried the abuse of the preposition ug, and the 
accusative, in the formation of names, to its present puzzling 
condition, by which a whole sentence i> mistaken for a 



412 ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 



Constan- proper name. Thus the lengthy word Constantinople was 
reduced to r\ iroXig, the city, by way of special eminence 
over all other cities. Besides which, the l going to town/ 
expressed in Greek by '(tt^vttoXiv, or elg tyjv ttoXlv, pro- 
nounced 'Stambolin, has given rise, first to the names of 
Istambol and 'Stambol, and then to that of Islambol, which 
in Turkish means the City of Islamism, or of the true 
Mahometan faith.* 

But perhaps the most violent change of this nature was 

Lepanto. the complete substitution of the Gulf of Lepanto for the 
Sinus Corinthiacus, which has properly been lately restored 

Naupaetus. to Gulf of Corinth on our charts: Naupactus, says d' Anvil] e, 
became Lepanto ' by a strange depravation of the name 
Enebect, formed by the Greeks from that of Naupact' — a 
place for building ships : so the Genoese called the Palus 
Masotis by the name Mare delle Zabacche. A friend 
suggests that Lepanto may only be a vulgarized corruption 
of Levante, from its being the eastern opening, which 
would in some degree continue the ancient name if we 
derive that from vavg, a ship, and 7ra»cra, doors, a ship 
channel. 

Errors by IV- By the more recent corruptions of travellers, &c. — 

travellers, rpj iege cons i s t f the mistakes made by such Frank sojourners 
in the Levant as are ignorant of the orthography, pronun- 
ciation, etymology, or grammar, of the Greek language, and 
yet are in sufficient numbers and station to secure the 
assumption of error. Thus also the modern Greek pilots 
and mariners have adopted the names of places in their 
own seas, that are most familiar to the various foreigners 
who frequent the shores of Greece and Asia Minor; though 
these names are a strange mixture and corruption of Hel- 
lenic, Eomaic, Latin, Frank, and Turkish. From such 



and by- 
Greek 
pilots. 



* See the excellent Sir George Wheler's Journey to Greece (fol., Lond. 
1681, p. 178) ; a valuable authority for its date, however faulty in illus- 
trations. 



ORTHOGRAPHY AND NOMENCLATURE. 413 

acquiescence many of the misnomers retain their places in 
our charts and maps. 

It is thus, even to the time of Dr. Chandler's visit, that Athens. 
Athens seems to have been called and spelt Setines, or 
Setenes, by the Franks, whereas it is merely a bad pronun- 
ciation of the ancient tc 'AOrivag, or 'c 'AQr'ivag, 'to Athens/ 
by foreigners who were not aware that it is the accusative 
case, and who, being unable to pronounce th, substituted 
the t for that sound. By a similar process 6rjj3cu, or other 
'c Qvfiag, has become Stevas, or Steves. So Eleusis, or 
\ "EXzwiva, has become Slefsina and Lefsina; Leuce is 
Lef ke ; Lemnos, or ^grbv Ariiuvov (sub. vr\<rov), is now (sailed 
Stalimene; Cos, or VrovKwv, is Stanchio; Delos is Standili 
and Solili; Ithaca becomes Teaki and even Val di Com- 
pare, and its port, Vathi. In this last it should be remem- 
bered that B is always pronounced V by the modern Greeks, 
the sound of B being represented by Mil in the Romaic, Greek 

spelling. 

so that they spell Bonaparte, MiruivaTrapTt. Thus, their 
employing NT for our D, their A as well as G being dh or 
th, the x a strongly aspirated H, besides the Latins having 
substituted the C, which may be either hard or hissing, as 
k or s, for their unmistakeable K, and other differences of 
pronunciation and spelling, show the difficulty of represent- 
ing the names of one language by the alphabet of another. 
Now without violent reform, it seems that our charts would 
be more intelligible to Levantine pilots, were Kephallonf a — 
Vostitsa — Avlona — Tserigo — Kenkhries — and the like, to 
be thus written, instead of Cefalonia — Vostizza — Valona — 
Cerigo — and Cenchri. 

Such are some of the causes of confusion in geographical Remark, 
orthography and parlance, and since they followed com- 
merce and intercourse, some of them were inevitable. But 
the anomaly here complained of — namely, that of writing 
the proper names of a foreign language which has a different 
alphabet — was wilful. My own difficulties in that line in- 



414 



ADOPTED ORTHOGRAPHY. 



Arabic 
names. 



creased greatly along the shores of North Africa ; for though 
I comprehended Greek sufficiently to wade through some 
of the grosser corruptions, my knowledge of Arabic, and its 
Moorish dialect, was small indeed. The principle to be 
followed, therefore, was, as far as sound could guide me, to 
write the word on the spot, using the vowels as in Italian, 
because of the simplicity and invariability of their pronun- 
ciation and orthography — which usage also prevails through- 
out the south-east and centre of Europe ; and the consonants 
as in English, each with one unchangeable sound. Having 
My mode, thus written them to the best of my ability, I generally, 
where a native capable of so doing was to be found, got 
them also written in Arabic, with their significations, as a 
means of future correction; and these, fortunately, have 
been most carefully scrutinized by my friend, the Rev. 
George Cecil Renouard, whose recognised knowledge of the 
oriental languages is a guarantee for the system adopted. 
Hence many bizarre words were erased from the charts, 
and in those substituted, the English reading will sound so 
as to be intelligible to the native. Indeed, in this respect 
our enunciation favours the change, as may be instanced in 
the Gallicized word marabou, for marabut, a saint or devotee, 
and thence a small chapel built over his grave — the whited 
sepulchre of St. Matthew? — to be seen on most of their 
points and headlands, and which, instead of the full word 
it makes in the mouth of a native, became the marraboo of 
our sailing directions. There are many of these blunders, 
but one may be cited ere it is quite cleared off the charts. 
At Smyrna, in a former day, no foreign ship was allowed 
to anchor before her boat had reported her name and nation 
to the officer of a post on a projecting headland, where the 
Turkish sanjak, or banner, was hoisted. This cape, there- 
fore called Sanjak Burnu, became of consequence in the 
charts and directories; and the French hydrographes, 
adapting it to their own euphony, dubbed it Pointe St. 
Jacques, the which our savans duly translated Point St. 



Marabut. 



Risible 
blunder 



GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 415 

James, the name under which it appeared, till very lately, 
in our Admiralty charts.* 

Another cause of trouble has been the difficulty, in Changes 

„ j. . ™ places. 

many mstances, of assigning the exact sites of various 
ancient places of considerable historic importance; a neces- 
sity involved by the classical and memorable facts and 
events of those interesting: shores. The delta of the Eh one Delta of the 

... . Rhone. 

has altered surprisingly since Strabo wrote, as is readily 
traceable. Notre Dame des Ports, a harbour in A.D. 898, 
is now a league from the shore ; and Aigues Mortes — as 
already stated — the sea-port whence St. Louis embarked 
for Palestine only in 1248, has retired inland to the distance 
of five miles (page 13). Ravenna is at present in the Ravenna, 
midst of gardens and meadows; and Ostia is surrounded 
by fields. The isle of Lada, where the Athenian fleet took Lada. 
up a station in the days of Thucydides, is lost in the alluvion 
formed by the Ma^ander ; and that of Minoa, the out-post 
of Megara, is not now traceable, through its having become 
part of the coast of that vicinity, — and the actual spot, as 
reconcilable to its relations with Nicsea, is involved in the isic^a. 
greatest uncertainty. The strong town (EniadaB, stated to 
have been at the mouth of the Achelous in the days of 
Thucydides, is nowhere to be found in that vicinity; and 
there is much confusion in reconciling history and geo- 
graphy in respect to the depositions of that river, as 
affecting the islets of Oxise and Echinades. The identity ox\x. 
of Sphacteria and Pylus with the vicinity of Navarino in r-yius. 
our charts, would seem to be sufficiently obvious; but 
scrutiny has shown the existence of various puzzling incon- 
sistencies, for which the reader is referred to the able dis- 
sertation of my late friend Dr. Arnold, appended to the 
second volume of his edition of Thucydides, pp. 399 — 407, 



* This will remind the reader how the authorities were puzzled to ascer- 
tain the identity of Peter Gower, who was such an authority among Free- 
masons in Locke's time. The name proved to be a corruption of the French 
Pytagorc, or Pythagoras ( II vSayopag) ! 



416 MAKITIME POSITIONS. 

which was written with my survey, on a very large scale, 
under his eye. 
Remark. Such conditions involved much difficulty ; but by local 

examination I was able to confirm or reject the views of 
Cluverius, Cellarius, d'Anville, and other geographers, who 
laboured with fewer advantages than myself. 



§ 2. Respecting the Tabulated Points. 

Table of ^PHESE being the remarks with which it was considered 

positions. . . . 

-*- necessary to precurse the lable of Positions, we can 
now proceed to the principal register of my undertaking; 
trusting that, although — as in everything human — there 
will be yet a more delicate precision obtained, my deter- 
minations may — combined with those of Captain Gauttier 
— substantially constitute the Mediterranean landmarks 
of the nineteenth century. And indeed, it is not a little 
satisfactory to find that they have now been in constant 
use among navigators of all nations, for upwards of a 
quarter of a century, without any material alteration or 
correction having been made or even suggested. A proof is 
therefore afforded, that however short they may be of abso- 
lute perfection, they are relatively correct; a condition 
which meets the true demand of navigation. 
Arrange- The Register, or table of these maritime points, has 

been diligently arranged, and the information which it 
contains is pretty fully expressed, although in as condensed 
a form as was deemed desirable. It may be observed in 
explanation, that where the positions are assumed from 
numerous observations, those results were rejected whose 
mean was very discordant with the extreme terms ; earnestly 
hoping, that whatever acme of perfection practical astro- 
nomy may yet introduce into geographical details, the points 
tabulated in the following pages will be found tolerably 
chained together, within reasonable limits. 



ment. 



THE NORMAL POSITION. 417 

But I must here advert to an apparent discrepancy On the 
which has occasioned me a little disquietude on this head, point, 
since it would involve the exactness of my assumed zero, 
the very starting-point of the chronometric comparisons: 
and this arose from a doubt as to the longitude of the Royal 
Observatory on the palace of Palermo, with which all the 
positions are mediately or remotely connected. On com- 
mencing operations in Sicily, the Abbate Piazzi gave me a Piazzi's 
note stating the longitude of the pillar on which his great 
circle stood, as 13° 20' 15" east of Greenwich; and I had 
some conversation with him upon the observations from which 
that result was deduced. It was mainly founded on the 
mean given by an occultation of X Virginis on the 12th of 
June, 1791, and by the solar eclipse of the 5th of Septem- 
ber, 1793; for which he obtained trustworthy correspond- 
ing observations from Dr. Maskelyne himself. By these he 
placed Palermo to the east of Greenwich, as follows : — 

Phenomena. Time. Arc. Observa- 

tions. 

H. m. s. , „ 

By the immersion of \ Virginis . . 53 23 ... 13 20 45 
Beginning of the solar eclipse . . . 53 177 ... 13 19 25 '5 
Termination of ditto 53 22 ... 13 20 30 



Mean ... 53 20'9 ... 13 20 13'5 

As we had pitched a marquee on the mole-head for Palermo 

, -, ... , . light. 

erecting a portable transit-instrument during my stay, 
Piazzi also furnished me with the distance from the meri- 
dian and perpendicular, in Sicilian palmi, from the palace 
to the lighthouse adjoining the spot on which my transit 
was mounted ; and which, when protracted, agreed nearly 
with an azimuth bearing then taken from the lighthouse to 
the palace observatory=S. 28° 10' W. true. So eligible a 
nautical station was, of course, assumed as a standard; it 
gave a longitude of 13° 2V 56" east for the normal point of 
my departures, and from it my several arcs were measured 
with all the precision I could attain. 

Some years afterwards, Baron de Zach was desirous of Baron de 

Zach. 
E E 



418 VISCONTI'S ANXIETY. 

inserting a specimen of my method of treating chronometric 
runs, in his Correspondance Astronomique; and as his 
object was to call the attention of geographers to the subject, 
I supplied him with a detailed sample, showing the manner 
of connecting some places on the coast of Barbary with the 
palace at Malta, which he printed in 1822. Among the 
remarks which were then drawn up in illustration, I men- 
tioned the position of the Palermo observatory which Piazzi 
had given me ; and this so strongly excited the notice of my 
General colleague, General Visconti, that he appealed to me under 
visconti. ^ e ^ ea g^her that there was a misprint in the Baron's 
pages, or that there must have been some misunderstanding 
between Piazzi and myself. He had, he said, toiled through 
all the Sicilian observations, and was inclined to believe 
that the observatory was at least 1' more to the east than I 
had represented it to be : ' but/ added he, ' in that case 
what will become of the longitudes of Tripoli, Malta, Alex- 
andria, &c, all of which you have connected with that of 
Palermo? and how happens it that your longitude of 
Corfu, which of course is connected with Malta, and there- 
fore with Palermo, should accord so well with that derived 
from the occultation of Aldebaran, and with that by me 
My reply, adopted at Naples?' To this the only reply was, that I had 
reason to think, even from his own queries, that the position 
of the lighthouse — which gave 8 m 51 s between Palermo and 
Messina, and 4 m 15 s *4 between Messina and Malta — would 
eventually be found very near the truth. He then begged 
of me to remeasure the arcs between Malta, Palermo, and 
Naples — " cosl i vostri cronometri vi darebbero xm esatta 
differenza di longitudine tra Napoli e Palermo, e meglio 
che qualunque osservazione d'eclisse, o d'occultazione. La 
nostra longitudine e ancora incerta per vergogna nostra., e 
sarebbe pur bella cosa che quest a determinazione importante 
la dovessimo a voi per il primo." This, for the attainment 
of precision as nearly absolute as possible with the means 
at our disposal, assuredly would have been done, but that 



DAUSSY'S CALCULATIONS. 419 

Visconti's request did not reach me till after my arrival in 
England in 1324. I therefore sent him a few documents 
on the subject in question, begged him to refer the whole to 
Piazzi for his re-consideration: and further mentioned that 
I was satisfied that we could not be much in error in the 
position adopted. But, recollecting the liability of chrono- Remark, 
meters to sudden and often inexplicable changes of rates, 
under causes acting so differently that the irregularities are 
sometimes opposed, my dependance on the results would 
not have made me confident to a mile. 

Here the matter rested for some years, for neither of 
my zealous correspondents would have been satisfied with- 
out a definitive measurement under full means and practised 
hands. But it was taken up at Paris by M. Daussy, Inge- m. Daussy. 
nieur Hydrographe, whose elaborate calculations of no 
fewer than ten occultations, extracted from Piazzi's obser- 
vations, are published in the Connaissance des Terns for 
1835. By this severe labour he has arrived at the result, 
that the Palermo Observatory is 44 m 4 s , that is, 11° I' east of 
Paris, or 13° 21' 15" east of Greenwich. Still although this 
conclusion may yet influence the position of the observatory, 
I must, for cogent reasons, retain the situation in which I 
place the lighthouse, since from thence I settled Malta ; a 
station whence all my runs since the year 1816 were carried 
and valued, as the chronometers were always rated at the 
Anchor Wharf, in the dock-yard, and transported from thence 
by triangulation to the Palace in Valetta. This, therefore, 
is a matter upon which we must dwell a moment longer ; 
and first, for the remarkable agreement between Gauttier 
and myself, I am enabled by the kindness of the present 
Admiralty authorities to cite a letter from the Commander- sir c. Pen- 
in-chief to their Lordships. This is dated from Malta, 
18th June, 1816 :— 

I found, in conversation with Captain Gauthier of the Chevrette, French 
king's ship, that he had several scientific associates ; but that their plan was 
not to go in search of and ascertain the various dangers in these seas (a 

K E 2 



420 



THE AEC RE-MEASURED. 






Remark. 



Lunar 
eclipse. 



point, however, of the utmost importance), but to fix, by means of five 
excellent watches, 110 different points, and borrow materials for the details. 
It is highly to the honour of Captain Smyth that the mean of the observa- 
tions of those eight French astronomers (for Valetta) came within a second, 
and in other instances a small fraction, of those made by him unassisted. 

It should be remarked, that however gratifying this 
incident was, so close an accordance in the result can only 
be viewed as accidental. But we had another opportunity 
for finding that our modus operandi did not differ mate- 
rially ; since a total eclipse of the moon occurring on the 
9th of June, while the Chevrette was in the harbour, the 
following were the comparisons thereby afforded : — 

Smyth. 
(not noticed.) 
1 51 397 

(not observed.) 



Disappearance of the white light . . 
Commencement of the true shadow, or ) 

disappearance of sun's fight . . . ) 
First appearance of the penumbra, or 

partial reflected light 

End of the penumbra 2 

End of the eclipse 3 



Gauttier. 
m. s 
37 



51 



57-3 
40-5 



2 35 40-5 



49 

58 



42-1 
50-4 



41-5 
48-6 



Liitke. 



Having reason to be satisfied with the position of 
Valetta, it became, as I have said, my standard Mediter- 
ranean point : but attention had been so strongly called to 
Piazzi's probable oversight, that it was desirable to re- 
measure the arc between Palermo and Malta. This was 
Graves and accomplished, in 1846, both by Captain Graves, and the 
well-known Russian Admiral Lutke, with very powerful 
means ; and an arc nearly 3 s shorter than mine was carried 
to the Observatory. But my published stations were — 
Palermo lighthouse, 13° 21' e56 7/ , and Valetta palace, 
14° 30' 50" ; a matter to which Captain Graves paid great 
attention, and produced an arc = 4 m 34 s, 365 from the 
light to Spencer's monument in the harbour of Valetta. 
This spot is 1750 yards distant from the palace flag-staff, 
on a bearing N. 27° 35' east, by compass ; which, corrected 
for variation (13° 53' west, in 1846), places his station 
427 yards (in time, l s, 056) to the west of mine. The com- 
parison, therefore, stands thus : — 



The new 
arc. 



1816. 
1846. 



Smyth 
Graves 



3 chronometers 
10 chronometers 



4 35-6 
4 35-421 



DAUSSY'S INVESTIGATION. 421 

Now the arcs for these important maritime positions Remark, 
being, as it were, identical, the question follows, shall the 
longitude of the two places be shifted a mile or more to 
the east, in order to meet a quantity not given to me 
by the excellent astronomer of Palermo ? Besides the 
remarkable accordance of almost all my standard posi- 
tions, the longitude of Alexandria, by various persons 
and methods, may afford a further reason for not dis- 
turbing them. Having briefly alluded (page 416) to 
the sample of my operations with which Baron de Zach 
was furnished, it will be eligible to show the use made of 
that communication by Mons. M. P. Daussy, at present m. Daussys 

7- ^ examina- 

ckej oi a useful class as yet unknown to our navy — Inge- tion. 
nieurs Hydrographes. The extract* which follows is from 
the additions to the Connaissance des Terns for 1832, 
pages 60-3 ; the essay being under the title of Determina- 
tions des positions geographiques du Gaire, d" Alexan- 
dre, et de quelques autres points de la Mediterranee. 

Les observations du Capitaine Smyth donnent encore un moyen de Extract 
determiner la longitude d'Alexandrie. Comme les differences qu'il a ob- from his 
tenues par ses chronometres sont rapporte'es dans la Correspondance Astro- essa y* 
nornique de M. de Zach, nous pourrons les comparer a ce qu'a trouve" M. 
Gauttier. En general, on ne saurait trop donner de details lorsque on 
opere au moyen des chronometres ; car quoique ces instrumens pre'cieux 
donnent entre les mains de personnes habiles et soigneuses des resultats 
tres exacts, comme ils ne donnent que des differences, que les erreurs par 
consequent peuvent s'accumuler, et qu'une nouvelle determination change 
ndcessairement tous les points environnans, il est essentiel de connaltre les 
points que Ton peut regarder comme servant de depart, et la maniere dont 
ils sont rattache"s les uns aux autres. 

II serait done important de rapporter toujours dans ces sortes d'opera- 
tions, non seulement la longitude moyenne et la marche des montres, mais 
encore l'etat de chacune d'elles sur les terns moyen du lieu, ce qui mettrait 
a merae de verifier les longitudes calcuiees et d' adopter le resultat qui parai- 
trait le plus probable. C'est ce qu'a fait en partie M. Smyth dans la Corre- 
spondance Astronomiqv£, et ce qui nous permet de combiner les differences 
qu'il a obtenues avec notre determination de la longitude de Malte. 

En 1816, M. Smyth determina la difference de longitude entre Malte 



* The passage in Baron de Zach's Correspondance Astronomique, thus 
cited by Mons. Daussy, is but an abridgment of the paper which I forwarded ; 
and the Baron says {vol. vii., payc 548), 'Le Capit. Smyth donnc encore ici 
tout le type de calcul.' 



422 DAUSSY'S INVESTIGATION. 

M. Daussy's (^ l'obs^rvatoire du grand-maltre) et Tripoli (maison du consul Anglaia) ; 
il obtint par une moyenne 5' 20 "'33, ce qui, rapporte au chateau du Pacha 
par une petite operation trigonometrique, lui a donne pour ce point 
5' 19"-50. 

En Septembre, 1821, il alia encore de Malte a Tripoli. II observa cette 
fois sur un rocber de la rade, 45" de degre" a 1 est du chateau ; ses chrono- 
metres lui donnerent pour difference de longitude entre Malte et le rocher: — 

5' 16"'27 \ 

5 15 -87 

5 12 -47 I moyenne, 5' 16 "'05. 

5 13 -87 

5 18 -27 

Enfin, la meme ann^e il de'termina encore la difference entre Malte (le 
lazaret) et le meme rocber de Tripoli ; il obtint par ses chronometres, 

5' 8"-9 

5 13 -5 

5 19 '7 V moyenne, 5' 14"*30. 

5 17 '4 I 

5 12 -0 J 

Mais le lazaret de Malte est de l ,f, 73 de terns a, l'ouest de l'observatoire 
du grand-maitre ; les observations rapportees a ce point donneraient done 
pour difference avec le rocber de Tripoli 5' 16" # 03. Les observations de 
1816, rapportees au meme point, donneraient pour sa difference avec Malte 
5' 16" '50 : la moyenne entre ces trois resultats, qui different tres peu les 
uns des autres, est 5' 16"*19. 

En 1816, M. Gauttier avait aussi obtenu de son c6te la difference entre 
Malte et Tripoli (maison du consul de France) ; ses chronometres lui avaient 
donnee au bout de 27 jours, 

Lean 08 23 ... 4' 59"'37 ) 

80 ... 5 11 '24 K , 1/|ri . QA 

94 ... 5 20 -3i r m °y enne > 5 14 30 - 

2741 ... 5 26 -28 ) 

ou, en rapportant au meme rocher, 5' 10 "'5; ce qui differe de 5 "'69 d'avec 
ce que M. Smyth a trouve ; mais il suffirait de negliger le resultat donne par 
le numero 23, qui etait une montre de poche, pour s'en rapprocher beaucoup. 
En effet, le milieu des trois autres serait 5' 19" # 28, ce qui, rapporte au 
rocher, donnerait 5' 15 "'48 presque la mdme chose que ce que trouve 
M. Smyth. Comme il s'agit seulement ici des determinations de ce capi- 
taine, nous adopterons sa difference de longitude. 

Etant ensuite alie de Tripoli a Bomba, M. Smyth trouva entre ces deux 
points les differences suivantes: — 



moyenne, 39' 49 "-32. 



Le lieu des observations, a Bomba, etait au fond du port. 

Enfin, en 1822, il trouva entre Bomba et Alexandrie (pointe Eunoste). 

26' 42"-27 ) 

42 -43 I „, ia „ Kn 

42 -56 [ m °y enne ^ 26 42 ' 50 - 

* 42 76 J 




DAUSSY'S INVESTIGATION. 423 

Des operations trigonome'triques lui firent connaltre que la pointe Eunoste M. Daussy's 
etait 1' 30" "0 de degre ou 6" # 00 de terns a l'ouest du phare; la difference essay, 
entre ce dernier point et Bomba serait done 26' 48" '50. 
Si nous reunissons ces differences, nous aurons — 

De Malte a Tripoli — 5' 16" -19 

De Tripoli a Bomba + 39 49 '32 

De Bomba a Alexandrie + 26 48 *50 



l h 


so* 


16 8 -4 


1 


50 


5 -2 


1 


50 


22 -35 


1 


49 


59 -68 


1 


50 


6 -03 


1 


50 


12 -24 


1 


50 


10 -33 



Done de Malte a Alexandrie l h 'l 21 '63 

Longitude de Malte 48 44 '40 

Done longitude d Alexandrie 1 '50 6 "03 

En 1822, M. Smyth avait encore determine* la longitude de la pointe 
Eunoste de l h 59' 27"*84 a l'est de Greenwich, ou l h 50' 6" '24 de Paris, 
ce qui donne pour le phare l h 50' 12 "'24. II ne dit pas quel est son point 
de depart ; mais nous croyons que e'etait Malte, dont la longitude differe peu 
de celle que nous avons adoptee ; nous emploierons done aussi cette deter- 
mination. 

Reunissant ces differens resultats, nous aurons pour la longitude du phare 
d 'Alexandrie : — 

Par l'occultation d'Antares 

Par celle de y ^ observee a Larnaca et rap- 

portee a Alexandrie 

Par les chronometres de M. Gauttier, en allant 

Par les memes, au retour 

Par ceux de M. Smyth, par Tripoli .... 
Par les memes, en 1822, par Malte .... 

Moyenne . . 

Ou .... 27° 32' 35" -0 

La Connaissance des Terns donne 27° 35' 0", etNouetdans son Memoire, 
27° 35' 30" ; e'est done a peu pres 3' que nous trouvons a retrancher: nous 
avons eu 4' 31" a retrancher de celle du Caire; on voit que la position 
relative de ces deux points eprouve par Ik peu de changement ; en effet, la 
difference que nous trouvons entre eux est de 5' 25 "*6. Nouet avait eu par 
ses chronometres 5' 31 "*7 ; mais on peut douter si ses observations n'etaient 
point susceptibles d'une erreur de six secondes. 

It is now time lo turn to the register of geographical on the table 
points, as contained in the following table; which has been 
drawn up with careful attention, in order at once to econo- 
mize space, and secure perspicuity. They are, of course, 
classed according to their general boundaries; but the head- Divisions, 
ings of each series are placed rather with a view to broad 
geographical feature, than political distinction — a method 
adopted as offering a readier reference, than defining the 
smaller states would have allowed. For example, all the 
divisions and subdivisions between Nice and Spezzia (plim 



424 



CHOROGRAPHICAL ARRANGEMENT. 



Divisions. 



Order 



Liguria), are quartered under the authorized designation 
Piedmont — the domains of the sovranacci of Massa, Lucca 
the recent Etruria, and Piombino, are embodied under the 
name Tuscany — the Papal States under that of Rome — 
and an abundance of principalities are merged together 
under Albania, Greece, Tripoli, and Algeria. The 
places thus ranged follow each other in chorographical 
order along the coasts, passing where convenient or necessary 
to islands and rocks, after which the coast is again continued. 
In the course round the Mediterranean, the same order is 
observed as that of the preceding chapters of this work — 
entering at Gibraltar, proceeding by the shores of Spain, 
France, and Italy to Greece; returning westward from 
Alexandria aloug the coast of North Africa, to the Strait of 
Gibraltar. But the Archipelago, Black Sea, and Levant, 
being Captain Gauttier's contribution, are appended as a 
separate series. All the latitudes, it will be observed, are 

Longitudes, north ; and the longitudes, except where marked with a W 
on a portion of Spain, and the opposite coast of Morocco, 
are always east of Greenwich. The heights of mountains 
and buildings are in English feet, and from the sea-level 
(page 391). The magnetic variation is constantly west, and 
the dip of the needle to south; or nadir. In the first column 
will be found the names of the places — and the particular 
spots of those places — where the observations were taken, 
or carried to by means of angles or bearings; and these are 

Type of the printed in small capitals, Roman type, "or italics. The first 
show the stations where our opportunities were of the best 
description, and the results entitled to the highest value on 
the list: the second indicate that though mostly taken on 
shore, or connected geodetically, the operations were more 
hasty or less advantageous than the first ; while the third 
resulted from bearings, secondary angles, patent log-runs, 
and intersections, of a more hurried and less exact tenour. 
In other words, the three styles of printing the names, 
exhibit the classification according to my conviction of the 



Latitudes. 



Heights. 



Variation 
and dip. 






ISOGOXIC CURVES. 425 

relative degree of weight to be assigned to the points. With Remark, 
a labour more onerous than pleasing, these positions have 
been entirely re-examined since the publication of the charts, 
some of which — to meet the demand — were hurried out, 
during which process various small corrections occurred, and 
several local errors were detected — principally as to identity 
from sea-ward, where landing was then impracticable. On 
the whole, though we would advise chronometer-ratings to 
be made only at the first class of these points, as standards, 
it is hoped they will all be found in such accordance, 
relatively, as to enable ships to shape a proper course, — 
thereby meeting all the ends and purposes of practical 
navigation. 

As the magnetic variation has been already spoken of Magnetic 
{pages 384 & 5), it only remains to add, that these obser- 
vations are rather of relative than absolute value; and 
though they cannot be forced into any very strict accord- 
ance with a set of isogonic curves which I drew up, they 
are the results of a long series of experiments with the 
means at my command, to show the needle deviations at 
given epochs. Whenever, therefore, we shall be able to 
ascertain, by direct measurement, the total magnetical force 
of the earth, then even these unpretending operations — 
however influenced by instrumental error and local affections 
— may become a chronological reference for its effects in 
the Mediterranean Sea.* I have also alluded (page 391) to 
the heights of mountains which we took as being merely Heights, 
approximative, although it is trusted that the majority of in- 
stances will be found very near the mark : but I had great 
distrust of those taken by angle of depression to the horizon, 
although perhaps they were near enough for the purpose of my 
register. Still, as the horizon is a very difficult line in other The sea- 
cases where ultimate accuracy is demanded (see page 382), honzon - 



* It must not be forgotten, that terrestrial magnetism is subject to secular 
\ aiiations. 



426 



DIP OF THE HORIZON. 



I got Captain Graves to call at the island Al-Boran, which 
for such a purpose is an oceanic pivot, and there successively 
^Boran 1 " ta, k e ^ e dip at morning, noon, and evening, on the cardinal 
points of the compass. This was accordingly done from its 
highest point, an elevation of about 68 feet, with a carefully 
adjusted 5-inch theodolite; and the experiment being new, 
the results are here given at full: — 

Telescope. 



Experi- 
ment. 



On the 
Notanda. 



Bearing. Direct. 

N. 
N.E. 

E. 
S.E. 

S. 

s.w. 
w. 

N.W. 

N. 
N.E. 

E. 
S.E. 

S. 
S.W. 

w. 

N.W. 

N. 
N.E. 

E. 
S.E. 

S. 
S.W. 

w. 

N.W. 

* Hazy. 

Besides these geographical and physical conditions, 
hydrography requires information as to the nature of the 
various coasts, while navigation also demands a notice of 
the approach to those coasts, and the degree of capacity 
of the several ports and anchorages. Having partially at- 
tempted to supply these desiderata for general purposes, in 
the following register, without impinging on the advice and 
duties of a detailed directory, a word is necessary as to the 
form I have adopted. This cannot be better expressed, 
than by giving a passage from my address to the Royal 



.. 6' 


00" .. 


... 5 


30 .. 


... 4 


30 .. 


... 4 


00 .. 


... 4 


30 .. 


... 5 


00 .. 


... 5 


30 .. 


... 6 


00 .. 


... 4 


30 . 


... 5 


00 . 


... 4 


30 .. 


... 4 


00 . 


... 4 


00 .. 


... 5 


00 .. 


... 5 


00 .. 


... 4 


30 .. 


... 5 


00 . 


... 5 


00 .. 


... 5 


30 . 


... 6 


00 . 


... *5 


00 .. 


... *3 


00 .. 


... 4 


00 .. 


.. 4 


00 .. 



leversed. 


Mean. 




IV 00" . 


. 8' 30" 1 




11 00 . 


. 8 15 




11 00 . 


. 7 45 


Observations taken 


11 00 . 


. 7 30 


at 7 A.M. 


11 00 . 


. 7 45 


" Thermometer, 78° 0. 


11 30 . 


. 8 15 


Barometer, 30 "12 in. 


11 30 . 


. 8 30 




11 30 . 


. 8 45 J 




10 30 . 


. 7 30 1 




11 00 . 


. 8 00 




11 30 . 

12 00 . 
12 30 . 
12 45 . 


. 8 00 
. 8 00 
. 8 45 
. 8 52-5 


Noon. 
- Thermometer, 82°. 


Batometer, 30'13in. 


13 00 . 


.. 9 00 




12 30 . 


.. 8 30 




13 30 . 


.. 9 15 




14 00 . 


.. 9 30 




12 30 . 

13 00 . 
10 00 . 
10 00 . 


.. 9 00 
.. 9 30 
. 7 30 
. 6 30 


Sunset. 
- Thermometer, 78". 


Barometer, 30 '\%'\n. 


17 00 . 


. 10 30 




13 00 . 


. 8 30 





USE OF SYMBOLS. 427 

Geographical Society (Journal, Vol. xx), on the 27th of 
May, 1850:— 

But among the many publications of the year I must select one which, Use of 
though only a new edition, is entitled to a high place in your regard, because, symbols, 
on its being first launched, you discerned its merit, and awarded the Gold 
Medal as a mark of your approbation. I allude, Gentlemen, to the third 
edition of that truly useful work, Lieut. Raper's Practice of Navigation R ape r's 
and Nautical Astronomy ; a work in which the capacity, systematic method, Navi- 
and intelligence of the author are so strikingly evident. The book is greatly gation. 
augmented in matter since its original appearance, but, from the excellence 
of its printing, it has not grown much in bulk ; and the additions are such as 
to increase its utility. The most operose and remarkable feature of this 
edition, however, is the 'Table of Geographical Positions,' discussed and 
methodized upon a chronometric system, now consisting of no fewer than 
8800 points, instead of the 2300 it first placed before us. From its bearing 
not only, as usual, the latitudes and longitudes of places, but also the dimen- 
sions of islands, state of anchorages, peculiarities of lights and lighthouses, 
depths of shoals, and other necessary details, I may fearlessly pronounce it 
to be the most accurate and comprehensive representation of the present 
state of maritime geography extant. To accomplish this, the author has 
devised a series of very significant symbols, and applied them to the expres- 
sion of many important matters ; indicating by their means watering-places, 
dangers, the character of the natives as friendly or hostile ; the presence or 
absence of trees or bushes — whether as a means of identification, or as mark- 
ing places where firewood is to be found — and distinguishing more especially 
the cocos nucifera, which, on account of its conspicuous form, and its afford- 
ing both food and beverage, is an object of peculiar interest to the tropical 
navigator. By such symbols this table is made to contain, with scarcely any 
increase of size, a vast quantity of varied information : while the signs them- 
selves, being founded on obvious or natural considerations, are easily acquired 
and retained. The author, in justifying the introduction of a scheme which 
a few years ago might have been considered a rash, if not a dangerous inno- 
vation, concludes his remarks by saying : — ' The employment of symbols, 
therefore, on a more extensive scale than we have yet been used to, and that 
at no distant period, may be considered inevitable ; and the present system, 
which has occupied my attention for several years, is proposed as so far 
deserving consideration, that it is constructed with rigid adherence to 
principles.' 

This is important to the ends of tangible geography, as well in the con- 
struction and arrangement of tables, as in every description of cartographic 
composition. In a work of my own, which may one day be brought to light, „,. nresent 
I shall assuredly adopt Lieut. Raper's symbols in tabulating the results of book, 
observations ; and I notice that Lieut. Maury, of the United States Navy, 
has greatly extended the use of such signs in his important Wind-and-Current 
Chart of the Atlantic Ocean. The imperative task in the question is, so to 
conventionalize the matter, that, as with music, the forcns may be read and 
understood by people of all nations. 

In the present instance symbols only are spoken of, for ou abbrevi- 
I am not yet prepared to advocate the abbreviations of 



428 USE OF SYMBOLS. 

words beyond the usual practice,* as each language will 
necessarily use its own method ; to the injury of the general 
application so greatly desired. Herein, perhaps, antiqua- 
rian tendencies may influence me, having had occasion to 
on abbre- recollect how the army of sufferers in the cause of truth 

viations. 

was recruited by the uncial BM. of ancient tombs being 
rendered Beatus Martyr, instead of Bonce Memoriae. 
Hadrian struck a large brass medal on the 874th birthday 
(natali urbis) of Rome, in the legend of which a P has 
been disputed as meaning populus, plebii, publici, primus, 
or parilia; and even the well-known counter- mark on the 
early Emperors' medals — N.C.A.P.R., has been rendered by 

^Eneas Vico Nobis concessa a Populo Romano. 

Jobert Nota cusa a Populo Romano. 

Others Nummus concessus a Populo Romano. 

While a satirist insists that it should be read — Non concessa 
sir Edward a Populo Romano. In the same spirit Coke, the noted 

Coke 

manager of the Raleigh tragedy, in contempt of the conti- 
nental travellers of his day, said " S.P.Q.R. was sometimes 
taken for these words, Senatus Populus Que Romanus — 
the senate and people of Rome ; but now they may be 
truly expressed thus, Stultus Populus Qucerit Romam, a 
foolish people that runneth to Rome/' 

To some readers it may seem travelling out of the 
record to cite numismatics in a work like the present ; but 
they may be assured that on the shores we have been treat- 
Medals and ing of, an acquaintance with coins, medals, and marbles, is 
marbles. ^^ i m p 0r ^ an ^ By the unequivocal aid of these handy 
monitors, often more trustworthy than written records, I 
have obtained a satisfactory clue both to dates and places ; 
insomuch that I even proved, respecting the age of Rome 
{Descriptive Catalogue of Roman Large-brass Medals, 
page 267), the preference of the vulgar computation over 



* Thus, in the confined space allowed in tabulating matter, I place Var. 
the usual abridgement of magnetic variation, though I would rather use a 
symbol : so, also, Int. is placed for magnetic intensity. 



USE OF SYMBOLS. 429 

the chronology of Sir Isaac Newton. The ancients were Ancient 

use of 

well aware of the advantage of a systematic terminology in symbols, 
conveying accuracy of conception, and influencing the forma- 
tion of ideas ; although their knowledge was not sufficiently 
advanced, to particularize minutely and distinctly between 
positive and relative positions. Their adoption of symbols 
was on a far more extensive scale of operation than that 
which is here advocated ; for they not only used them to cover 
moral mysteries, but also as types, emblems, enigmas, and 
hieroglyphics. These, it must be confessed, are sometimes 
not a little paradoxical and perplexing, since those elders 
not only represented moral things by natural things, but 
even natural by natural. Winged horses, sphynxes, human- 
headed oxen, and 'chimeras dire' were certainly fanciful 
enough ; but the thunder-bolt for power — eagle and globe 
for sovereignty — laurel for victory — palm-tree for Judaea — 
wheat-ear for Metapontum — crab for Agrigentum — hare 
for Messana — cray-fish for Catana — bull for Tauromenium 
— horse for Carthage — goat for Thrace — silphium for 
Cyrene — labyrinth for Cnossus — tortoise for Egina, &c. &c, 
are sufficiently simple and obvious.* In treating upon this 
subject elsewhere, I stated that the epithets of symbol and 
device are often used indifferently, although the former 
strictly signifies a practical or figured metaphor, and the 
latter an allegory: the one simple, the other complex. 
Hence it is obvious, that figures on coins and medals are 
arbitrary devices, and hieroglyphics are absolute symbols, 
or significative. 

Symbols, however, which are unsusceptible of equivo- simple 
cation, and capable of being universally understood, should sym ° 
be encouraged by those who desire accurate perception with 



* The reader may here be reminded, that A dmiral Neptune, as Newton 
styled him, presided over the Mediterranean, as Oceanus did over the cir- 
cumambient sea, or waters supposed to surround the whole earth : he was 
symbolized with the trident as a sceptre, a dolphin or aplustre on his hand, 
and his foot on the prow of a ship. (See the vignette on the title-page. ) 



430 USE OF SYMBOLS, 

and but economy of time: and in hydrography it were a truly 

on.6 k6V 

desirable consummation, that they should require but one 
key for the common use of seamen of all nations. True to 
this spirit in arranging the following table, though wishing 
also to have introduced a mark for the compass-variation, 
another for the dip of the needle, and others to denote 
places which fish frequent, and where fresh water, provisions, 
and refreshments are obtainable, I would not introduce one 
Lieutenant except through the hands of Lieutenant Raper ; so that this 
department must await some future edition of his standard 
work. The following are those selected for my register, 
from the Practice of Navigation, and it is hoped they 
will be found plain, easy, and efficient : — 

Symbols $ {Anchor) Anchorage for large vessels ; $' good ditto ; $, bad ditto ; 

adopted. 

$ no ditto. 

X Anchorage for smaller vessels ; 1' good ditto ; £, bad ditto. 

ES Harbour for large vessels, or having always three fathoms water. 

H Harbour for smaller vessels, or having at times less than three fathoms. 

/v- (Birds) As birds frequent some places in preference to others, they 

may afford a means of indication. 
I (Boat-hook) Landing ; l no landing. 
(3 Break or breakers ; /3/3 breakers at times. 

! (Note of admiration, surprise) Denotes caution, or calls attention. 
|| Channel, or passage. Mouth of a river. 
d Danger, dangerous ; d Q no danger, safe, 
'f (Palm-tree) Here the date-palm. 
_^ Bising gradually. 
s^ Bising in the middle. 

i, ^ Saddle-shaped. A valley. 

^_ Sloping downwards. 

7- Sloping bottom, or change of soundings gradual, may be approached 

with safety by attention to the lead. 
1 Steep or precipitous. Note. — This is quite independent of high. A 

headland may be low, yet precipitous. 
j Steep to, or bold to. 
¥ (Tree) Trees ; ¥ well wooded. 
*• (A tree without a trunk) Brushwood. 






THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



431 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Spain. 


Q 1 II 


O 1 II 




San Lucar, tower 


36 43 10 


6 24 2w 


|| River Guadalquiver. E. j. 


Rota, mole-head 


36 36 40 


6 20 lOw 


Var. 22° 30' in 1810. Approach 6, /3/3 . 
Height 151. Rise of tide 9£ feet. H. 


Cadiz, S. Sebastian's light 


36 31 51 


6 18 lOw 


Chiclana, S. Ana church... 


36 25 10 


6 9 50w 


510 feet. Hill _^_. % 


Sancti Petri castle 


36 22 45 


6 13 Ow 


|| . High water l h 35 m . 8. (3. ^. 


Cape Trafalgar, turret . . . 


36 10 10 


6 56w 


d at approach, but the cape 1. 


Tarifa, lighthouse 


36 15 


5 36 39w 


j. South point of Europe. 


Palomas rock, centre 


36 3 35 


5 25 24w 


! for Pearl reef. d. [. 


A Igeciras, the pier 


36 8 5 


5 26 16w 


|| . S. $ in road. Mostly d. !. 


Gibraltar, signal-station . . . 


36 7 46 


5 20 19w 


Height 1255. O'Hara's tower, 1408. 


Gibraltar, arsenal mole. . . 


36 7 17 


5 20 49w 


High water h 40 m . Rise & fall 4£ ft. m. 


Gibraltar, Europa point . . . 


36 6 16 


5 20 9w 


Var.21°37';Dip61°8';Int.232(1824). 


Al Kore'in rock 


36 19 12 


5 13 16w 


Close to the shore, and small. /•*-. 


Estepona, Marmoles point 


36 25 17 


5 7 25w 


_^ to Sierra de Bermeja. If. t. 


Frangerola, castle 


36 32 51 


4 37 lw 


On a small hill. E). $. *. 


Malaga, lighthouse 


36 42 48 


4 26 12w 


Height 125. Var. 21° 5' (1811). GS. fc 


Yelez Malaga, Torre del Mar 


36 46 44 


4 7 25w 


11. $, except in sea- winds. *. 


Castel de Ferro, sanidad... 


36 42 19 


3 21 31w 


$, but !. _^. to Ugija range, 2700. 


Torre Belerma 


36 42 40 


2 54 Ow 


$, but j, and !. 

In the cove X ; in the bay t. 


Almeria, torre del Tiro . . . 


36 50 50 


2 31 7w 


Capo de Gata, fort 


36 42 59 


2 11 56w 


1. Var. 20° 42' in 1813. rr. 


Port Geneve's, fort 


36 44 15 


2 7 18w 


$, but ! currents and flaws. 


Cresta de Gallo 


36 47 


5 3 Ow 


S.E. of Ronda, 5950. Summit ^ ^. 


San Pedro, castle. 


36 53 21 


1 59 58w 


[X], the best of these coves. 


Sierra de Gador 


36 56 


2 56 Ow 


7100; S.E. end of Apuljarras range. 
$. Var. 20° 43' in 1813. •*. ^-. 


Carbonera islet 


36 58 22 


1 55 24w 


Cerro de Mula-hacen 


37 8 


3 28 Ow 


11,370. Peak of Sierra Nevada. 


Mount Filabres 


37 12 


2 23 Ow 


1 ROO TPP't', A ttijiqq 0"P xn/hi+p ms»"rKlp 


Aguilas, Fort S. Juan 


37 23 33 


1 36 49w 


l.\J\J\j JCvt. -Ti. Illcloo \JL WllltC lllti'llJlC, 

1' and t. Var. 20° 43' in 1813. 


Cartagena, fort Gateras . . . 


37 35 28 


58 17w 


Height 655. j. S . *. 


Cartagena, mole-light ... 


37 35 58 


57 42w 


fg. Mag. var. 20° 44' in 1812. 


Mount Roldan 


37 6 


1 2 Ow 


1851 feet. This is of Murcia. 

(3p off Hormigas. Var. 20° 34' (1813). 


Cape Palos, turret 


37 37 18 


37 40w 


Cape Cervera, turret 


38 1 


37 58w 


t, open to sea-winds. 


Lugar nueva, fort 


38 12 7 


31 54w 


II Elche, f. t in Tamarit road. 


Plana I. Tabarca bastion .. . 


38 10 15 


27 31w 


Low and flat, but 1. /*-. 


Alicant, mole-light 


38 20 30 


27 18w 


95 ft. V. M. Tosal 230. Castle-hill 550. 


Benidorme isle 


38 30 5 


5 llw 


Var. 20° 30' (1813). V, but exposed. ^. 




M. Roldan, the gap 


38 36 


11 Ow 


The ' cuchillada,' or gash. 


Point Ifac, or Calpe 


38 37 18 


4 10 


f over Altea bay, but ! . _^. 


Cape S. A ntonio, hermitage 


38 48 31 


10 58 


High, level, and 1. Off Xavia, t. 


Denia, castle 


38 50 50 


7 34 


C2 between the banks. Outside t. 


Cullera, sanidad 


39 10 48 


14 38 w 


II lucar. Admits barks over tbc bar. 



432 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notauda. 


Spain. 


o / ri 


o / n 




Cape Cullera, tower 


39 12 5 


13 Ow 


174 feet. _^. T . nr. 


Valencia, cathedral 


39 28 35 


22 lOw 


Var.20°35'; Dip 63°36'; Int. 236(1813). 


Valencia, Grrao light 


39 28 47 


18 58w 


45 feet. || Turia. 1. Outside t t but !. 


Mount Espadan 


39 54 


24 Ow 


Marli for the coast. 


Cape Oropesa, outer tower 


40 6 12 


9 55 


_•:. 7", shoal under it. 


Peniscola, fort 


40 22 53 


25 


1. 1. except with sea-winds, $'. 


Mount Pefia de Bel 


40 36 


2 


4000. Mark for approach from S.E. 


Vinaroz steeple 


40 29 10 


27 57 


$ in off-shore winds. 


Monsia, east summit 


40 37 


31 


880, ^ inland to 2500. 


Alfaques, San Carlos mole 


40 37 46 


35 30 


S. Var. 21° 0' in 1813. <*. ^. 


Buda 1, or Cape Tortosa... 


40 43 10 


54 7 


II Ebro. !. Station, Gola del N. [. 


Port Fangal, point Fango 


40 47 40 


47 47 


ED. In the bay $. ■*•. *-. 


Tortosa, castle 


40 49 


32 50 


Ebro ED for vessels of 50 tons. 


Salou, mole-head 


41 5 28 


1 7 12 


$'. Var. 20° 37' in 1813. 
410 feet. a. In the roads, $'. 


Tarragona, cathedral 


41 6 57 


1 16 10 


Montazut summit 


41 24 


1 25 


3200. Mark for the coast. 


Castel Fells, sanidad 


41 16 30 


1 57 58 


_=; 230. $' with !. 

107 feet. || river Llobregat. !. *-. 

680. Var. 20° 45' in 1813. 


Torre del Bio 


41 19 12 


2 9 45 


Barcelona, Monjui fortress 


41 21 35 


2 10 13 


Bakcelona, mole-light ... 


41 22 30 


2 11 20 


80 feet. H. Outside P. 


Mon-serrat, centre 


41 36 


1 48 


4200. Excellent sea-mark. 


Mataro, eastern fort 


41 32 47 


2 27 33 


210 feet. Inside reef 1', outside $. 


Point Toldera, or Tordara 


41 37 45 


2 48 


|| the Toldera. Var. 20° 40' (1812). 


Blanes, fort Santa Ana . . . 


41 40 


2 49 47 


$ in land winds, here and Lloret. j. 


Tosa, church at cove 


41 42 36 


2 57 35 


$', with ! 8 . /-. Inland f. 
$!, except in S.E. winds. ■*. 
E. *, with !. Var. 20° 37' (1813). 
1, but ! the Hormigas. [. 


S. Feliu de Guixols 


41 46 13 


3 10 


P alamos, mole-head 


41 50 57 


3 6 25 


Cape S. Sebastian 


41 53 10 


3 12 14 


Medas isles, fort 


42 3 40 


3 13 15 


|| river Ter. Var. 20° -40' (1813). d Q . 


Ampurias (Emporias) 


42 9 


3 3 20 


Old castle of the Ampurdan. 


Bosas, fort Trinidad 


42 16 12 


3 10 25 


315 feet. T & 1. *'. fl with !. 


Cadaque"s, church 


42 17 10 


3 16 48 


EE. _^: to M. (Fingers) of Cadaque"s. 


Cape Creux, Masa de Oro I. 


42 19 12 


3 20 45 


1. £ with !. [. ^r. 


Santa Cruz delta Selva 


42 18 


3 12 25 


T & 1. m. $. Var. 20° 35' (1813). 


Cape Cervera, Carox tower 


42 26 16 


3 10 45 


j & 1. Boundary of Spain & France. 


Spanish Islands. 








Columbretes I. M. Colibre 


39 53 58 


44 27 


m. <b. Var. 17° 41' in 1823. <b. ^. 


Columbretes I. Ship rock... 


39 51 20 


43 32 


J & 1. $ Q With !. rr. 


Formentera, I. P. Codolar 


38 38 30 


1 36 10 


1. £ but I % ^. 


Formentera, I. P. Aguila 


38 38 15 


1 23 


The pitch. T & 1. % 


Espardel isle, cove 


38 48 5 


1 29 25 


*. With !, d a . 


Iviza, Cape Falcone 


38 50 20 


1 24 


j. j". ^. *>. [. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



433 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Spanish Islands. 


O / II 


O I \\ 




Iviza, the citadel 


38 54 
38 59 10 


1 27 8 
1 36 


m. Var. 20° 15' in 1813. 
1, but ! the reef. [. 


Iriza, S. Eulalia rock 


Iviza, Togomago I. 


39 2 56 


1 38 40 


j & 1. d with !. [,. 


Iviza, Point Denserra 


39 8 5 


1 31 55 


1, moderate height. $ . It. 


Iviza, Port S. Antonio ... 


38 59 


1 20 10 


Watering place, ffl. ¥. 


Iviza, Bedra islet 


38 52 24 

39 5 


1 12 18 

2 53 15 


100 feet. Var. 20° 30' in 1813. 
Pitch. T & 1. to- *• <*-• 


Cabrera, P. Anciola 


Cabrera, castle 


39 6 57 


2 54 36 


m. %. Var. 19° 58' in 1813. 


Foradada islet 


39 10 
39 13 30 


2 57- 28 

3 3 25 


The pierced rock. d with !. [. 
The pitch. _^ to Torre Gorta. % 


Majorca, Cape Salinas . . . 


Majorca, Port Colon 


39 22 


3 15 58 


X'. _^ to M. Salvador. 


Majorca, Cape Pera 


39 40 36 


3 30 


The tower, j & 1. d Q . 


Majorca, A leudia church . . . 


39 49 40 


3 8 57 


In the bay $'. j-. 


Majorca, Cape Pinar 


39-;51 30 


3 15 


The pitch. 1. f. [ . 


Majorca, Pollenza castle ... 


39 53 10 


3 8 28 


m but ! winds. Var. 19° 50' (1813). 


Majorca, C. Formenton ... 


39 56 48 


3 15 10 


Long hummocky tongue. 1. S . 


Majorca, M. Torellas 


39 48 


2 48 50 


The Silla or Saddle s! ». 5200 feet. 


Majorca, Port Poller 


39 47 58 


2 43 


The landing place. X y . 


Majorca, Dragonera isle ... 


39 36 10 


2 17 35 


Upper tower light, 1180. j & 1. 


Majorca, cape Llamp 


39 32 


2 23 20 


j & 1. ^toM. Galatzo. *. ^. 


Majorca, Palma mole . . . 


39 34 5 


2 38 45 


Light 37 ft. Var. 19° 54' (1812). H. V. 


Majorca, cape Blanco 


39 20 32 


2 47 


7, 1, and _^ inland. t . 


Minorca, cape Dartuch ... 


39 54 50 


3 51 22 


Low and flat, but 1. [. 


Minorca, Ciudadela 


39 59 15 


3 52 30 


Octangular spire. [3J and t. 


Minorca, cape Bajoli 


40 25 


3 48 12 


j & -L. _*; to Torre del Raam. 


Minorca, Cala Caldera ... 


40 3 5 


4 2 


*,. _^to S. Agata. Var. 19° 38' (1811). 


Minorca, C. Cabaleria ... 


40 5 


4 6 58 


1. _^: inland. $ . 


Minorca, Port Fornelles . . . 


40 3 25 


4 8 51 


The fort. m. S a with !'. * c . 


Minorca, Mount Toro 


39 58 36 


4 8 30 


(El Tor) convent 1220. ^ . Sea-mark. 


Minorca, Colon isle 


39 58 7 


4 18 20 


1 from seaward. Var. 19° 35' (1812). ^. 


Minorca, cape Mola 


39 52 45 


4 21 36 


Atalaia. j, 1. S . [ . ¥ . 


Minorca, Port Mahon... 


39 52 57 


4 19 53 


Quarantine isle. Var. 19°30' (1811). ffl. 


Minorca, Port Mahon 


39 53 30 


4 18 32 


Arsenal sheers. Var. 19° 36' (1813). ffl. 


Minorca, Ayre isle 


39 48 30 


4 18 25 


1 outside. d with ! in ||. *-. 


M in area, A laior tower 


39 52 10 


4 9 42 


j & 1. $' in north winds. ¥. 


France. 








Cape Beam, light 


42 30 48 


3 8 48 


752 feet. _^ to the Pyrenees. 1. 


Port Vendres, light 


42 31 2 


3 7 32 


98 ft. S. ^to fort 8. Elmo, on ^ . 


Callioure, isht St. Vincent 


42 31 20 


3 5 40 


X but ! east winds. _^ to fort S. Elmo. 


M mi a' Canigou 


42 30 


2 30 


9300 feet. ^ . A sea-mark. 


Canet, 8. Marie tower 


42 42 4 


3 50 


|| ofTet. t in land winds, j with !. /3/3 . 


Perpignan, steeple 


42 41 45 


2 54 


Rise to town 67 ft., to M. Forceral 1650. 





F F 



434 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 



Latitude. 



France. 
Leucate, fort les Mattes . . . 

Grau de Sigean, light 

Serignan, douane 

Fort Brescou, light 

Mount A gde, light 

Cette, Mount S. Clair 

Cette, niole-light 

Frontignan, steeple 

Montpellier, steeple 

Aigues-mortes, light 

Grau d' Organ, fort 

Rhone Delta, la Camargue 
Rhone Delta, S. Louis tower 
Rhone Delta, Tanpan douane 

Port de Bouc, light 

Cape Couronne, pitch 

Carre, VEstes rock 

P. Mourrepiane, fort 

Marseilles, fanal S. Jean 
Marseilles, upper castle ... 
Daume I., fort Tourville... 

Chateau d'lf, tower 

Ratoneau I., castle 

Pomegue I., tour S. Jean... 

Planier isle, light 

Tiboulen isle, centre 

M. S. Michel, semaphore... 

Riou isle, tower 

La Cassidaigne rock 

Cassis, lighthouse 

Bee de VAigle, cape 

Ciotat, Bureau de Pratique 
P. Grenier, or Carboniere 

M. Pilon de Beaivme 

Bandol isle, centre 

I. des Embiez, fort 

Cape Sicie, semaphore 

Cape Sepet, pyramid 

Toulon, la Grosse-tour . . . 

Chateau de Giens 

Hy&res bay, fort Gapeau . . . 
Hyeres bay, fort Bregancon 
Porquerolles I., light 



42 53 58 

43 55 
43 15 30 
43 15 44 
43 17 56 
43 24 
43 23 55 
43 27 
43 37 10 
43 32 27 
43 26 30 
43 20 35 
43 22 55 
43 21 37 
43 24 
43 19 20 
43 19 30 
43 21 10 
43 17 42 
43 16 58 
43 16 10 
43 16 45 
43 17 
43 16 25 
43 11 55 
43 12 53 
43 13 28 
43 10 34 
43 8 37 
43 12 49 
43 9 55 
43 10 20 
43 9 40 
43 20 

7 36 
4 34 

3 12 

4 32 
6 6 
2 18 
6 28 

5 25 



Longitude. 



43 
43 
43 
43 
43 
43 
43 
43 
42 59 15 



3 2 46 
3 3 55 
3 17 18 
3 29 
3 28 10 
3 40 
3 41 35 
3 44 30 

3 52 

4 8 10 
4 24 22 
4 41 
4 47 48 
4 50 27 

4 58 56 

5 3 30 
5 9 33 
5 19 54 
5 21 40 
5 22 7 
5 20 45 
5 19 50 

18 57 

18 40 
14 17 

19 50 
22 25 
22 55 
32 26 
31 55 

5 36 36 

5 36 40 
41 10 
46 30 

45 10 

46 45 
50 55 
56 57 
56 8 

6 7 30 
6 11 39 
6 19 13 
6 11 55 



Notanda. 



1. j. In Franqui £'. _^ 125 feet. 

33 feet. || port Nouvelle of Narbonne. 

|| of Orbe, GS. _^ to Beziers, 380 ft. ^. 

30ft. T with !. j3j3 . Var.20°10' (1813). 

415 feet. Useful sea-mark. 

620 ft. Mark for the Etang de Thau. 

88 feet. || of the Etang. IB. $ by j. 

Seen over etangs and drowned lands. 

120 ft. Mark for Grau de Maguelonne. 

70 feet. || Grau du Roi. ffl. * r- 

|| Petit Rhone, j. % 

130f. || Vieux Rhone, in drowned Ids. ^. 

|| Rhone. Var. 19° 51' in 1812. ^-. 

S'inGulfofFoz. M. Opica 1630, seen to N. 

98 feet. || Etang de Berre. E. $'. 

j & 1, but ! for Regas and Muet. ¥. 

S with ! 1. % _^to M. Tabouret, 490. 

_^ Moulin du Diable 680, Pilon du Koi 2360. 

32f. H. Eoad* ; . Var.l^O'jDipesnO' (1820). 

Notre Dame de la Garde, 526 feet. 

! shoals in d'lf ||. $ Daume road. 

150 feet, j & 1. ! the above shoals. 

293 feet. 1. £ with !. 

282 feet. 1. d a . 

131 ft. ! /3j3 . Var. 19° 46' (1820). ^. 

j & -L. £ in Cape Croisette ||. 

(Collet du Rose) 1340f.Grardalaban 2270. 

j & 1 to seaward. 510 feet. 

A wash at times, but 1 around. 

E. Var. 19° 20' in 1815. 

! for 8 in isle Verte ||. _^ 410. ¥ . 

ES. *. Mole light 40 ft. The new 394. 

1, but ! the tunny nets. 

3200 feet. A sea-mark. 

1 outside, in || d. Inside $. 

In the || sd. t . rr. 

1200 feet. T & 1, with S. [. 

j & 1, ! for Rascas rock. ^ . 

ffl.Var.20° (1815) .M.Faronl700,Coudon2150. 

|| of La Petite Passe 1, d . 

|| the Gapeau. $' by j. 

T &1. || for boats. Var. 19° 45' (1812). 

262 feet. T & 1. 8 . [ . 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



435 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


France. 


O / II 


o / » 




Port-Cros I., fort Man ... 


43 32 


6 24 58 


ES. j & ■*» but ! in Titan II- -^ 650. 


Pt.-Cros I., La Gabiniere rk. 


42 59 


6 23 42 


1. || for boats. *-. 


Levant I., Phare du Titan 


43 2 46 


6 30 35 


246 feet. 1, d with !. <b. 


Esquillade rock, turret 


43 2 18 


6 32 5 


1. S . Var. 19° 50' in 1812. ^. 


Cape Cavalaire, redoubt ... 


43 9 42 


6 32 12 


j & 1. In road $'. _^ 1100. 


Cape Ta Mat, islet 


43 9 53 


6 39 50 


1 except close in. 


CapeLardier, Camarat light 


43 12 14 


6 41 30 


427 feet. At base /3/3 . [. 


Cape S. Tropez, islet 


43 16 32 


6 43 16 


S. ! among the shoals. 


S. Tropez, maison de Pratique 


43 16 38 


6 39 


EL In Grimaud bay, $'. 


Frejus, ancient amphitheatre 


43 26 5 


6 44 15 


98 feet above the sea. 


Frejus, S. Rapheau 


43 25 15 


6 46 22 


EL V. Var. 19° 43' in 1815. 


Agay, the castle 


43 25 45 
43 27 30 


6 52 25 
6 54 30 


$, but ! shoals of Isle O, & la Boute. 
1500. f (Foret d'Esterelles). 


Cape Roux, summit 


Napoule, maison de Pratique 


43 31 20 


6 56 30 


t, but with !. 


Cannes, fort S. Pierre 


43 32 48 


7 32 


EL * with !. Var. 19° 20' (1823). 


Lerins Is., Ste. Marguerite 


43 31 20 


7 2 35 


Fort Monterey. || for small vessels. 


Lerins Is., St. Honorat . . . 


43 30 19 


7 2 40 


The abbaie. 8 to south. !. ¥. <-*-. 


Gourjeau, or Iouan 


43 33 56 


7 4 30 


Maison de Pratique. $', but enter !. 


Garouppe lighthouse 


43 33 50 


7 7 54 


340 feet. 1 under, but !. 


Antibes, mole light 


43 35 5 


7 7 38 


50 feet. EL Var. 19° 30' (1823). 


Ville-neuve, castle 


43 39 35 


7 8 


A mark on the hills. 


S. Laurent du Var 


43 40 40 


7 11 15 


Boundary of France and Piedmont. 


Piedmont. 


Grenaglia point 


43 39 30 


7 12 12 


|| river Var. j. ¥. r-r. 


Nice, port Limpia sanita\.. 


43 41 16 


7 17 12 


EL _^ to M. Mignons, mark from S. W. 


Villa Franca, arsenal flag 


43 41 25 


7 18 35 


Arsenal El. Harbour EE. 


Villa Franca, fort Montalban 


43 41 38 


7 18 13 


Var. 19°; Dip 64° 10'; Int. 245 (1823). 


Villa Franca, lighthouse . . . 


43 40 2 


7 19 27 


On point Mala, 225 feet. 


Belluogo (Beaulieu), mole... 


43 41 44 


7 20 5 


$ in shore winds. _^ M. Leuza, 1690. 


Point St. Laurent 


43 42 24 


7 23 25 


T , but ! a shoal. ^ to Eza, 1840. f e . 


Turbia, ancient trophy 


43 43 49 


7 25 41 


Sea-mark, 1650. * . 


Monaco, castle flag 


43 42 50 


7 26 55 


T & 1. *. ^ to M. Nagel (table-hill). 


Cape S. Martin, battery . . . 


43 43 20 


7 32 10 


1. _^ to Col de Braus, 3800. 


Ventimiglia, dogana 


43 45 42 


7 38 


|| the Roya. t r ^ Col de Tende 5900. 


San Remo, mole 


43 49 10 


7 50 28 


$ in Id. winds, f .Var.l9°19',Dip 64°14'(1824). 


Monte Grande, summit ... 


43 51 


7 37 


3100 feet. With M. Cougarde, a mark. 


Cape dell' A rmi 


43 49 52 


7 53 


|| of Taglia. j. 8 . ^ to the Cornice. 


Port Maurizio, convent . . . 


43 53 22 


7 58 46 


l r Road t. Var. 19° 40' in 1820. 


Cape delle Mele 


43 57 58 


8 11 


1. S . _^: to Maritime Alps. 


( Jallinara islet, tower 


44 2 6 


8 13 5 


T . & 1. S . in ||. Var. 19° 30' (1820). 


Monte Cairo, summit 


44 10 i) 


8 9 30 


2900. m. tfelogno 3460. Marks (or coast. 


Finale, battery 


44 9 r><\ 


8 19 3 


t with land winds. Var. 19° 20' (1820). 



F F 2 



436 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Piedmont. 


O / II 


O / II 




Noli, convent S. Francis... 


44 11 54 


8 22 42 


$ with land winds. Var. 18° 40' (1824) . 


Bersezzi islet, ruins 


44 14 


8 24 50 


|| for boats. Cape _^ toMt.Invincibile. 


Vado, fort S. Lorenzo 


44 15 27 


8 24 32 


$'. Mag. Var. 18° 32' in 1824. 


Savona, citadel 


44 18 25 


8 27 52 


El. Var. 19° 15' (1820). _^ Col d'Altare 1600. 


Cape A renzano, pitch 


44 24 12 


8 39 15 


y. & -L. d . Inside || of the Pizzo. 


Rock Polla, centre 


44 25 


8 46 14 


8 in || to Castellazza. 


Genoa, lighthouse 


44 24 36 


8 53 5 


370. m. Var.l9°15',Dip63°40'(1818). 


Genoa, fort Diamante 


44 28 48 


8 55 12 


_^: to Bocchetto pass, 2700. 


Nervi, the palace 


44 23 39 


9 2 18 


S in approach. $ . 

H. Var. 18° 54', Dip 64° 7' (1820). 


Porto Fino, the fort 


44 18 15 


9 14 4 


Sestri a Levante, fort 


44 16 23 


9 25 26 


$' in land winds. Manara pnt. j & 1. S . 


Levanto, landing pi ace ... 


44 10 55 


9 38 17 


Mag. Var. 15° 45' (?) in 1820. 


Mount Castellana 


44 4 


9 50 30 


The summit, 1610 feet. 


Porto Venere, S. Pietro . . . 


44 3 10 


9 51 50 


Eastern side EE. ■$•. <b. 


Tino islet, lighthouse 


44 1 58 


9 52 31 


384 feet. T & 1. S . 


La Scola, fort 


44 3 20 


9 52 56 


1. d in || to Palmaria. 


Spezia, fort Pezzino 


44 4 37 


9 52 12 


High water l h 38 m . Rise & fall l|ft. H). 


Spezia, city castle 


44 6 25 


9 51 23 


Var. 18° 10'. Dip 63° 35'. Int. 237 (1820). 33. 


Spezia, Lerici castle 


44 4 32 
44 2 54 


9 54 42 
9 58 10 


V. Var. 17° 59' in 1823. *. 

|| the Magra. Porto di Luni [I]. 


Santa Croce, sanitd 


Tuscany. 








LaMarinella, ruins ofLuni 


44 3 16 


9 59 18 


Confines of Piedmont and Tuscany. r<- 


L'Avenza, landing place .. . 


44 2 15 


10 3 30 


$' with !. || Carrara river. _^ M. Sagro. 


San Giuseppe, tower 


44 38 


10 7 8 


j. || river to Massa. . % 


Port Cinquale 


43 58 35 


10 9 4 


y. _^ to Monte Altissimo, 5200. 


Motrona, church 


43 55 30 


10 13 27 


$' in easterly winds. ¥. List. M.Cimone 6400. 


Viareggio, sanita* 


43 51 51 


10 15 19 


$'. Var. 18° 30'; Dip 63° 5', in 1823. % 


Serchio toiver 


43 46 48 


10 16 30 




Pisa, campanile 


43 43 30 


10 24 


' Leaning Tower/with grd. 255f. Acoast mark. 


Arno fort, flagstaff 


43 40 50 


10 16 40 


|| river Arno. E. /3 on bar. 
Mag. Var. 18° 37' in 1823. 


Leghorn, Marzocco toioer... 


43 34 15 


10 18 7 


Leghokn, lighthouse 


43 32 50 


10 17 45 


154 feet. Var. 17° 58' in 1820. 


Leghorn, Melora beacon ... 


43 32 56 


10 13 32 


On the head of Melora bank. 


Calafuria tower 


43 28 50 


10 20 


1. _^: to Monte Negro. ¥. 


Castiglioncello toiver 


43 24 30 


10 24 5 


£ in 7". Cove for boats. *■. 




43 21 7 


10 27 20 


$ in || to the reef. % 

7-. j8/3 . !. Submerged ruins (?). 


Mai di Vetro reef. 


43 20 


10 20 48 


Cecina, palace 


43 18 6 


10 29 30 


|| river Cecina. ¥. 


Castagneto fort 


43 10 15 


10 32 30 


$ in land winds. _^;. ¥. 


Torre S. Vincenzo 


43 6 


10 32 18 


_^ hills of Calvi and CampigHa. 


Port Baratto, Populonia... 


42 59 30 


10 30 10 


£', except in N.W. winds. 


Piombino, palace 


42 55 32 


10 31 40 


390 feet. Var. 18° 0' in 1823. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



437 



Place. 



Tuscany. 

Fullonica, dog ana 

Troja islet, tower 

Castiglione della Pescaja... 

La Tro.ppola fort 

Cala di Forno 

Port Talainone, sanita 

Talamonaccio tower 

Orhitello, landing-place ... 

Santa Liberata tower 

Port Santo Stefano, mole 
Mount Argentaro, telegraph 
Port Ercole, fort Stella ... 

Tagliata tower 

Formica di Burano 

Lake Bur ano, E. Graticciaja 

Tuscan Islands. 

Gorgona isle, Torre Vecchia 

Capraja isle, castle 

Elba I. Port Ferrajo 

Elba I. Cape Vita 

Elba, Longona citadel flag 
Elba,M. Calamita{Loadstn.) 

Elba, Campo tower 

Elba, M. Capxinne 

Palmajola I. fort light 

Cerboli I., ruin 

Pianosa I., Turco rock . . . 

Africa rock, centre 

Monte Christo, summit ruins 
Formiclte di Grosseto,N.rck. 

Giglio, town spire 

Giannuti, Spalmatoja bay 

Corsica. 

Giraglia I., redoubt 

Cape Minervio, pitch 

San Fiorenzo, citadel 

Punta Per alto, pitch 

Isola Iiossa, islet battery . . . 

Calvi, the citadel 

Calvi, Rivellata light 

Gargana (Gargalo) I. turret 



Latitude. 


Longitude. 


o , n 


O / II 


42 55 20 


10 44 50 


42 48 3 


10 43 10 


42 45 57 


10 52 52 


42 41 


11 2 20 


42 36 57 


11 5 24 


42 33 20 


11 8 19 


42 33 14 


11 9 56 


42 26 38 


11 12 38 


42 26 30 


11 8 59 


42 25 56 


11 7 57 


42 23 45 


11 10 28 


42 23 34 


11 12 


42 24 50 


11 17 36 


42 23 


11 19 10 


42 22 57 


11 27 30 


43 25 45 


9 53 


43 2 36 


9 50 49 


42 49 5 


10 20 30 


42 52 40 


10 24 58 


42 46 12 


10 24 22 


42 44 


10 24 30 


42 44 55 


10 14 35 


42 .46 30 


10 10 


42 52 2 


10 28 40 


42 51 44 


10 33 


42 32 40 


10 9 14 


42 21 40 


10 8 5 


42 19 14 


10 20 


42 34 45 


10 53 5 


42 22 3 


10 55 10 


42 14 5Q 


11 7 


43 1 45 


9 24 10 


42 54 5 


9 19 


42 41 10 


9 17 56 


42 44 15 


9 13 12 


42 38 43 


8 55 55 


42 34 


8 45 


42 35 


8 43 12 


42 22 6 


8 32 



Notanda. 



$' off Portiglione. f. _k to 550. 

T&l. || requires !. _^:toM. Maus, 980, 

|| toLake, & river Bruna. Var.l8°18' (1823) . f. 

|| river Ombrone. ¥. 

1 in the cove. *■. 

H. t. Var. 16° 57' in 1823. 

|| river Osa. y. ■#-. 

In middle of a lake. ^-. 

Above ruins of Doniitian's port. 

E. *'. Var. 17° 28' in 1823. 

1750 feet. 8 on coast below. 

ffl. * but !. Var. 16° 55' in 1823. 

Ruins of Ansedonia. j. *-. 

1 around. d Q in ||. *~. 

|| Chiarone. Boundary of Tuscany. 



j &-1. X in cove. Summit 1200 ft. 

T &1. Var. 18° 53' in 1818. 

Port Stella light 192 feet. m. 

Var. 19°, Dip 62° 40', in 1823. 

Focardo light 105. ffi. Var.l9°5' (1823). 

1195 ft. Var. 19° 30', Dip 64° 10' (1823). 

SI. Further out $. *. 

2700 feet. Mark for the ||s. i 

344 feet. Var. 19° 10' in 1823. 

1 on all sides. d a . 

1. $ off the boat coves. •*-. 

6 ft. Var. 19° 20' (1823). ! shoal 24' N. 

1900 feet. T & 1. d Q . *. 

N. rock 32 feet, S. one 13. £ with !. 

_-*; M. Pagana, 1317. Port SI. Campese bay $. 

T &1. *. Var. 18° 5' in 1823. *. 



250 ft. M. Campana (opposite) 576. t. 
T&l. $<>• •' k inc * squalls. ¥. 
|| of Lomio. *. Var. 18° 21' (1815). 
1. _^r to peak of Sierra Lortella. 
$ with !. Var. 18° 30' (1815). 
S3, t. _^ to Paglia-orba, 8700 feet. 
290 feet. _^: inland to Capo Tondo. 
±. Boat || to Gardiolo. ^r. 



438 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


COKSICA. 


o 


/ ri 


O / II 




Cape Rosso, pitch 


42 


14 12 


8 32 30 


J- to Sbiro rock. *•. 


M. Rotondo, Admiral' 's nose 


42 


12 


9 4 


8900 feet. Excellent sea-mark. 


Sagona, white tower 


42 


6 50 


8 41 


E2&$. _^: inland to Monte Bicco. % 


Sanguinario I. light tower 


41 


52 45 


8 35 35 


320. Mostly I, but ! Tabernacolo rock. 


Ajaccio, citadel flag 


41 Kfi in 


8 44 30 


ffi. Var. 18° 25', Dip 62° 5' in 1815. 
Pitch of the Sierra Kutefa. *. 


Cape Mtdo (Muro) 


41 


45 


8 39 20 


Campo Moro, redoubt 


41 


38 12 


8 48 15 


ffi. $' by j- in gulf of Valinco. 


Point Senetoza, tower 


41 


33 50 


8 47 23 


j & 1. _^ inland. 


Monachi rocks, highest 


41 27 10 


8 54 30 


40 feet. 8 in the ||s. /3. !. *. 


Porto Figari, landing place 


41 


28 30 


9 4 


|| river Canale. ^l inland. ¥. 


Cape Fieno, or Feno 


41 


23 40 


9 6 20 


The pitch of Monte Trinity, j. 


Bonifacio, middle tower 


41 


23 14 


9 10 


m. Var. 18° 5', Dip 61° 39' in 1815. 


Cape Pertusato, light 


41 


22 10 


9 11 30 


325 feet. T & 1. 


Lavezzi I. A rrini cove 


41 20 30 


9 15 44 


JL. 1, but ! for reef 1^' south. 


Cavallo I. Levant cove . . . 


41 


22 5 


9 16 32 


|| to Piana I. and main, d. (3. !. *-. 


Perduto islet, centre . 


41 


22 18 


9 19 


1, except reef to S.E., with /3. 


Porraja rock, summit 


41 


23 40 


9 16 22 


8 in ||, but practicable. j3j3 . 


Santa Manza, Capicciolo T. ■ 


41 


25 5 


9 15 50 


IS, but ! for north-easters. 


Toro rocks, the highest 


41 


30 20 


9 23 


1, except on the east. d in ||. 


Porto Vecchio, church 


41 


35 30 


9 18 


m. Unwholesome air. Var. 17°58'(1815). 


Porto Vecchio, Chiappa light 


41 


35 55 


9 22 10 


220 ft. j & 1, but ! a rock near base. 


Pinarellobay , torre de' Corsi 


41 


40 


9 23 20 


$withshore winds. _^M. Cava, 5000. f 


Fium-Orbo, Casa Fiesci ... 


41 


59 40 


9 26 30 


||. _^ to M. Cappella, 6750. # . ^. 


Alleria fort 


42 


7 


9 31 15 


|| of the Tavignano. j. ¥. <~r. 


Fiorentina tower 


42 


17 10 
33 30 


9 34 


|| Alezani. ¥. E. extreme of Corsica. 
II Buguglialake & Golo R. $' in road. *-. 


Punta d'A rco, tower 


42 


9 31 50 


Bastia, mole-light 


42 


42 


9 27 


52 feet. E. $. Var. 18° 30' in 1815. 


Monte Stella, summit 


42 


48 


9 25 


4500 feet. Mark in Elba & Capraja || . 


Finocchiarolo I. tower 


42 


59 15 


9 28 


$ both in S. Maria & Figarona bays. 


Sakdinia. 










Point delta Marmorata . . . 


41 


15 50 


9 13 45 


With Falcone, N. point of Sardinia. 


Longo Sardo, redoubt 


41 


14 59 


9 11 20 


[33. N. winds rake the port. *-. 


Capo della Testa, light 


41 


14 28 


9 8 15 


On torre Santa Reparata, 220ft. $. ¥ . 


Vignola tower 


41 


8 5 


9 3 10 


$. _^ to M. Griuncara, 1700 feet. 


Monfronara tower 


41 


1 10 


8 52 35 


Isola Eossa & Cala falsa -L. —^ to M. Cucuru. 
|| river Coguinas. _^to Castel Doria. ¥. 


S. Pietro di Mare, chapel 


40 


55 45 


8 48 46 


Castel Sardo, high steeple 


40 


55 7 


8 42 36 


j & 1. $ with !. X in the coves. 


Sardo rock, four fathoms 


41 


50 


8 43 36 


1. M. Spina (2650) in G-allura, S. 22°, E. 13f 


Porto Torres, tower light. . . 


40 


50 31 


8 22 51 


49 feet. ffl. V. Var. 18° 50' in 1824. 


Sassari, cathedral 


40 


43 40 


8 33 20 


Above Porto Torres 710. Osilopk. 2200. 
(Lo Scorno). j & 1. $ . *. /v. 


Asinara I. punta Caprara 


41 


8 


8 18 25 


Asinara I. Trabucato tower 


41 


4 4 


8 18 53 


ffl. _^: Scomunica peak 1458. *. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



439 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Kotanda. 


Sakdinia. 


o 


, 


„ 


O / II 




Capo del Falcone, tower . . . 


40 


53 


5 


8 10 17 


^ 610 feet. t a under. |. c . 


Cape A r gentier a, 'pitch ... 


40 


44 


10 


8 5 26 


j&l. [ . _^toRotondopeak, 1390. *. 


Torre della Pegna 


40 


35 


43 


8 7 40 


913 feet. T & 1. * . to- ~~- 


Porto Conte, Capo Caccia 


40 


33 


24 


8 8 29 


Summit 575 feet. 1. 


Porto Conte, torre Nuova 


40 


35 40 


8 10 38 


m. Var. 19° in 1824. *. 


Monte cV Oglia 


40 37 





8 14 


Summit 1398. A mark for Alghero. 


A Igh ero, torre Sperone 


40 


32 


47 


8 16 49 


V. Var. 18° 55' in 1824. 


Cape Marargiu, pitch 


40 


19 


52 


8 20 46 


1 to the rock. _^ to 2550 feet. 


Isola Rossa, Bosa tower . . . 


40 


16 


40 


8 25 31 


|| river Temo. E. ¥. 


Cuglieri, castle on peak- ... 


40 


12 





8 32 


1300 feet. _** M. Ferru 2796. % 


Cape Mannu, torre Mora. . . 


40 


1 


44 


8 20 35 


1. In land winds 1 in cove. 


Mai di Ventre Rock 


39 
39 


5S 
52 


58 
40 


8 16 
8 14 10 


# in || to the main. *-. 

1 except on the N.N.E. d with !. 


Coscia di donna (Catalano) 


Oristano, torre Grande ... 


39 


53 


55 


8 28 40 


m. *• Var. 18° 36' in 1824. nr. 


Oristano, the belfry 


39 


53 


47 


8 33 20 


Deadly air in summer. r<~. 


M. Aci, Trebina peak 


39 


46 





8 43 30 


Triple-peak hill of pilots. 


M. Arc aentu, the mark ... 


39 


35 35 


8 32 


The finger of Oristano, 2315. 


Cape Pecora, pitch 


39 2' 





8 21 22 


$ || Flumini-maggiore. -^ to M. Linas, 4000. 
1. $ Q . 8 . A conical rock. 
1 on all sides. d in ||. re. 


Pan di Zncchero 


39 
39 


19 
9 


44 



8 23 
8 11 12 


S. Pietro I. Gallo rock 


S. Pietro I. north summit. . . 


39 


9 


40 


8 16 28 


Guardia dei Mori, 680 feet. *. 


S. Pietro I. Torre Vittoria 


39 


8 28 


8 17 28 


Below Carloforte. ffi. Var. 19° (1823). 


S. Antioco, Casteddu Crastu 


39 


4 


20 


8 26 


E. In Palmas bay, $ '. *•. rf. 


S. Antioco, cape Sperone... 


38 


57 


20 


8 23 10 


1 & T- -^ to M. Arbus, 780 feet. 


La Vacca rock, summit ... 


38 


56 


10 


8 25 20 


550. || for a boat between it & il Vitello. 


Toro rock, summit 


38 


51 


58 


8 22 44 


j ft X 693 feet. 1 but * . *; *-. 


Cape Teulada, pitch 


38 51 


48 


8 37 12 


1. Summit 780. S. point of Sardinia. 


Cape Malfatano, toicer ... 


38 


53 


15 


8 47 18 


440 feet. H. Var. 18° 28' in 1824. 


Cape Spartixento, extreme 


38 


52 


28 


8 50 47 


1. 8 Q with !. $ in land winds to the E. 


Pula. S. Macario I 


39 





7 


9 1 50 


The tower, 310 feet. ffi. &. 


Cagliari, Arsenal mole . . . 


39 


12 


13 


9 6 44 


E. Inbay$'. V. 18°23 / ,D.59°13 / (1823). «-. 


Cagliari, S. Elias' light ... 


39 


10 


48 


9 7 58 


Over Laida rock, 248, _^: to 340 feet. 


Cape Carbonara, Cavoli I. 


39 


4 


50 


9 31 41 


Ficaria turret, 80 or 90 feet. 1. 


Serpentara I. torre Luigi .. . 


39 


8 


30 


9 37 


1. £ with !. Var. 18° in 1824. 


Capo Ferrato, pitch 


39 


17 


58 


9 39 16 


80 ft. 1. *. _^l to torre di Monte Ferru. 


M . Budui, Sette Fratelli . . . 


39 


18 


30 


9 26 45 


The Seven Peaks. Summit 3800, Station 2300. 


Cliirra islet, centre 


39 


31 


48 


9 41 30 


1. d Q . Mag. Var. 18° 20' in 1824. 


Cape Sferra Cavallo 


39 


43 


10 


9 42 5 


Pitch of M. Cuadazzoni, 3342 ft. T . 1. 


Cape Bella vista, S.Gemiliano 


39 


56 


20 


9 44 15 


300 ft. -^ to Gen-Argentu peak, 5276. £. 


Ogliastra isle, summit 


39 


5!) 


30 


9 43 55 


j-. $ all over Tortoli bay. ^r. 


M. Gennargentu 


40 








9 19 


Sciuscia peak 6200 feet. f. 


Cape Monte Santo 


40 


5 


58 


9 44 40 


Summit 2425 feet, j & 1. * . 


Orosei, S. Maria di mare 


40 


22 


59 


9 44 5 


E. S a in bay. Var. 18° in 1824. 



440 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Sardinia. 


o / 


„ 


o i u 




Cape Comino, rock Fossa... 


40 31 


35 


9 49 58 


■1. _-£ inland. E. point of Sardinia. 


Monte Albo, Cupetti peak 


40 35 





9 40 


2317. Mark for Posada &Siniscola. *-. 


Petrosa point, Santa Anna 


40 44 





9 42 57 


! in approach. _^:toM. Mazzori3200. ¥. 


Mount Limbara, Tempio 


40 51 





9 11 


Balestreri peak, 4500 feet. f. 


Molar otto, or Tauladetto... 


40 52 


12 


9 47 


70 or 80 ft. and conical. 3 in ||s. 1. 


Molara isle, middle 


40 51 


20 


9 43 18 


The ||s safe with !. *. *-. 


Tavolara I. Cala di fuori 


40 54 54 


9 43 36 


X. j & 1. d Q . 1500 feet nearly. 


Tavolaral. Spalma.di terra 


40 53 


10 


9 40 40 


t. ||s d, but practicable with !. 


Terra nova, ruins of Olbia 


40 55 


25 


9 29 15 


m but ! the bar. Var. 18° 5' in 1824. 


Cape Figari, extreme cliff 


40 59 20 


9 39 30 


j, 1, & [ . Fine $ inside TAranci. 


Mortoi-io isle, east cove ... 


41 4 


10 


9 36 


!. M. Gogaora (2150) marks Port Congianus. 


Porto Cervo, landing place 


41 7 56 


9 31 27 


H. Pedestal on M. Mola, S.W. 


Cape deir Urso, the bear . . . 


41 10 


17 


9 24 26 


Mark for $ in Arsachena sound. 


Mezzo Schiffo, il Parav/ . . . 


41 11 


7 


9 22 30 


HI. The Agincourt sound of Nelson. 


Peninsula delle Yacche . . . 


41 13 


20 


9 17 27 


North point. 10 on both sides. 


Caprera I. Tejalonepeah... 


41 12 


40 


9 28 18 


750 feet. 1 to east. || with !. 


Madalena I. Old Guardia 


41 13 


27 


9 23 42 


Var. 17° 36', Dip 61° 28' (1824). ffi. 


Spargi I. summit 


41 14 32 
41 18 16 


9 20 46 
9 20 31 


j & 1. d with !. *. 

270 feet. 1. X in Cala Longa. 


Razzoli I. lighthouse 


Rome. 










Clementino palace 


42 14 


22 


11 42 30 


|| of Marta. _^ to Corneto & hills, 1250. 


Civita Vecchia, pier light 


42 5 


40 


11 43 55 


82 f. m. Var. 17° 30', Dip 61° 15' (1823). 


CapeLinaro, Cliiaruccia T. 


42 1 


55 


11 48 58 


! reef off point. _^ to Tolfa peak, 1500. 


Torre San Severo 


41 58 30 
41 54 27 


11 59 

12 5 28 


$ here to S. Marinella with land winds. 
$. _^: to Cervitari. -*•. 


Palo, beach magazine 


Rome, St. Peter's cross 


41 54 





12 27 


A sea-mark. Ground & edifice 650 ft. 


Tiber, Fiumicino light 


41 45 


49 


12 11 39 


[XI in || . $' in the offing. ¥. or. 


Tiber, Bocca di Fuimara 


41 43 


58 


12 12 56 


Ostia ||. Torre Santo Vito. % ^. 


Ardea, steeple 


41 37 





12 33 


d on coast, f. _^i Albano 998, M.CaTO,3150. 
ED. $ with. !. (Ceno Tortus and Antium.) 


Porto d'Anzo, mole-light... 


41 26 


54 


12 42 9 


Astura, rock tower 


41 24 


10 


12 48 15 


Ruins of Cicero's villa. % 


Fogliano, beach tower 


41 21 


20 


12 56 54 


|| into the lakes. % j. *~. 


M. Circello, S. Felice church 


41 12 


40 


13 5 18 


$> by 7-. Summit ruins, 1730 feet. 


Terracina, ancient mole . . . 


41 15 


51 


13 15 9 


$' in land winds. ¥ around. 


Naples. 










Torre Vetere of Fondi ...... 


41 16 





13 20 


|| lake Fondi. Frontier of Naples. % 


Gaeta, Orlando's tower ... 


41 12 


20 


13 34 16 


IS. $' in bay. Var. 17° 39' in 1823. 


Mola, la Sanitd 


41 15 


10 


13 35 29 


$' with off- shore winds. _^: M. Castellone. 


Monte Massico, or Falerno 


41 9 


30 


13 54 


Mark for coast. cf with j. 


Castel- Volturno, beach tower 


41 1 


40 


13 56 25 


$ in east winds. Bad air. % 


Torre di P atria 


40 55 


55 


14 40 


$ with land winds. % *-. 





THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



441 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


N/otanda. 


Naples. 


O I n 


O 1 \l 




Cape Miseno, pitch 


40 46 30 


14 5 10 


280 feet, -r & 1. In the port E3. 


Baia castle, flagstaff 


40 48 35 


14 4 44 


m. Mag. Var. 17° 21' in 1820. 
480. Over Lucrine & Averno lakes. 


Monte Nuovo, crater 


40 50 


14 5 10 


Pozzuoli, Caligula's bridge 


40 49 15 


14 7 10 


The inner end. -L in approach. 


M. Camaldoli, convent 


40 51 26 


14 11 30 


1490. Excellent mark from the bay. 


Naples, Castel S. Elmo 


40 50 39 


14 14 28 


Var. 17° 32'; Dip. 60° 37'; Int. 241, in 1817. 


Naples, mole-light 


40 50 18 


14 15 36 


161. E). In bay $'with ! for foul ground. 


Mount Vesuvius 


40 49 15 


14 25 30 


Crater of 1820, 3880 feet. 


Pompeii, temple of Isis . . . 


40 45 


14 29 


Overwhelmed A.D. 79. 


Castellammare (di Stabia) 


40 41 34 


14 28 12 


Mole-head. $'. _^ M. S. Angelo, 4700. 


Sorrento, the dogana 


40 37 39 


14 22 30 


1 & S , but $ ; from depth. 


Point Campanella, light ... 


40 34 10 


14 19 32 


j & 1. d . _^ to M. Costanzo, 1600. 


Ainalfi, madre-chiesa 


40 38 


14 37 


1, but * . Open to S. and S.E. 


Salerno, the mole 


40 39 35 


14 45 


$', but exposed from S.S.E. to S.W. 
Malaria around Pp.sf.nTn. '$'. /-*-. 


Torre di Pesto 


40 23 


14 59 35 


Cape Licosa, tower 


40 13 45 


14 53 


(Leucosia) _^ inland, j. /3/3 . 


PortPalinuro, torre Prodese 


39 59 40 


15 14 45 


Round point Spartimento, $. 


Point degV Infreschi 


39 57 


15 26 


T & 1. ^M. Bolgaria, 3950 feet. 


Policastro, dogana 


40 1 38 


15 32 35 


(Buxentum). $, but exposed. V. 17° 10' (1815). 


Castro-Cucco, torre Caja... 


39 53 


15 45 30 


1, and $ in land winds. On a hill. 


Neapolitan Islands. 








Palmarola I., cola Forcina 


40 56 18 


12 52 58 


7-. £ with !. _^ 427 feet. ^. 


Ponza I., signal-station ... 


40 53 5 


12 57 38 


757 f. Except the Formiche, d below. 


Poxza, lighthouse 


40 53 35 


12 58 26 


m. Mag. Var. 17° 23' in 1815. 
d in Scoglietelle ||, with !. 


' 6 —•■»» 

Gava islet, or la Gabbia ... 


40 55 42 


13 40 


Zannone I., pt. Galatella... 


40 57 42 


13 3 15 


1, d but the Varo in la Gabbia |). <t>. 


Botte rock, summit 


40 50 10 


13 6 


68 feet. 1 around. [,, 


VandotenaL, port S. Nicolo 


40 47 38 


13 25 42 


(Pandataria). 1. 1. <S with !. _^ 803 f. 


Santo Stefano I., redoubt... 


40 47 15 


13 26 53 


183 feet, j & -L around. *. ^-. 


Ischia I., Forio sanita ... 


40 44 10 


13 51 10 


$ in east winds. .^M.Epomeo 2570. f m . 


Ischia I., Ischia castle ... 


40 43 54 


13 57 42 


$', || clear to Vivara shoal. 


Procida I., Chiupetto light 


40 46 12 


14 57 


74 feet. || practicable, but !. 


Nisvba I., tower redoubt ... 


40 47 45 


14 9 37 


H. f 1 . t in Bagnoli bay. 


Capri I., Palace of Tiberius 


40 32 46 


14 15 19 


860. l-r.* . U- ^o in H- S.ofCapodiMontc. 


Capri I., Carena point ... 


40 31 58 


14 11 53 


1 to nearly close under. -^ M. Solaro, 1900. 


Galli rocks, Lungo tower... 


40 34 40 


14 25 50 


j & 1. <5 in || to Vivara rock. 


Calabria. 








Dino islet, turret 


39 48 5 


15 48 40 


$ on north or south with !. 


Cirella L, tower 


39 37 


15 50 


JL on the N.E. *. m. 


Fuscaldo, torre San Giorgio 


39 24 53 


15 59 20 


$' with off-shore winds. _^. 


Monte Cocozzo, summit 


39. 16 


16 6 30 


A mark for Amantca, Belmonte, &c. 



442 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 



Latitude. 



Calabkia. 

Cape Suvero, tower 

Mezza Praja tower 

Pizzo, Murat's prison 

Monte Leone, castle 

Tropea, madre chiesa 

Cape Vaticano, tower 

Gioja, middle of the town... 

Bagnara, the church 

Scilla (Scylla), castle 

Reggio, marina fountain. . . 
Cape delVArmi, torre Molar o 
M. Pentedattilo, gli unci... 
Cape Spartivento, tower . . . 

Point Bruzzano, tower 

Ruins of Locris 

Point Stilo, torre Verdera 

Squillace, campanile 

Cape Bizzuto, torre Vecchia 

Cape Nao, or Colonne 

Cotrone, castle light 

Point A lice, tower 

P. Trionto, Bufalaria tower 
Capo Spulico, tower 

Sicily. 

Cape San Vito, church 

CasteW a Mare, fortress . . . 
Cape Uomo-morto, tower ... 

Femina isle, tower 

Cape di Gallo, pitch 

Palekmo, mole-light 

Palermo Observatory 

Mount Catalfano 

Termini, castle 

Cefalu, cathedral 

Sant' Agata, tower 

Cape Orlando, castle gate 

Cape Calava, pitch 

Port Madonna, convent . . . 
Milazzo, promontory light 

Milazzo, castle 

Spadafora, palace 

Cape Rasaculmo, telegraph 



39 2 53 
38 53 50 
38 47 
38 42 
38 39 45 
38 36 58 
38 24 49 
38 16 57 
38 15 4 
38 5 42 
37 57 25 
37 57 30 

37 55 50 

38 2 23 
38 15 
38 29 
38 48 48 

38 57 50 

39 5 22 
39 7 35 
39 24 
39 35 
39 57 10 



38 12 26 
38 1 51 
38 12 40 
38 14 10 
38 14 53 
38 8 15 
38 6 44 
38 5 40 

37 57 28 

38 
38 1 30 
38 7 46 
38 10 
38 6 45 
38 15 58 
38 14 6 
38 14 
38 17 56 



Longitude. 



16 8 47 
16 17 
16 12 45 
16 10 
15 55 12 
15 51 48 
15 56 
15 49 40 
15 44 36 
15 39 47 
15 42 

15 46 30 

16 3 
16 9 15 
16 14 40 
16 35 20 

16 28 

17 46 
17 13 28 
17 9 30 
17 9. 
16 47 18 
16 35 30 



12 45 50 

12 52 43 

13 6 10 
13 12 50 
13 18 20 
13 21 56 
13 20 15 
13 32 

13 42 

14 3 57 
14 36 32 
14 44 30 

14 54 15 

15 2 20 
15 14 10 
15 14 17 
15 22 10 
15 31 57 



Notanda. 



-L. $', but exposed, before* S. Eufemia. 

! bad air as far as Maida. ¥. m. 

{Napigia) . $', but ! the north-westers. 

(Vibo Valentia). On a hill. f. 

j. 1. Var. 16° 50' in 1815. 

Good sea-mark. 1 to pretty close in. 

Deep water close in. ¥. 

Var. 17° 10' in 1815. JL. % 

$ in the bay, but ! currents. 

1. Var. 16° 25' in 1815. $' off Arco. 

1 and S Q . _u£ inland. ¥. 

Sea-mark. _^M. Aspromonte 4400. ¥. 

S.E. point of Calabria. 

1. <b. _^i to Bruzzano town. 

1, approach to the beach very deep. 

1 to beach. Var. 16° 20' in 1816. 

d Q in gulf, yet Virgil's 'Navi fragum.' 

1. * with !. % 

! ruins forming a shoal off. 

98 feet. S. Var. 16° 40' in 1816. 

1. d in Gulf of Taranto with !. 

|| river Trionta. ¥. s*~. 

1. || of the Femo. $ off Roseto. ¥. 



j but ! the reef of the point. j3(3 . 
1 in the coves beneath. 
d Q in approach, with !. 
Outwards 1. Inside || for boats. 
1692 f. M. PeUegrino, 1955. M. Cuccio, 3300. 
m. Var. 18° 45', Dip 59° 12' (1814). 
As given me by Abbate Piazzi. 
1095. Pts. Gerbino & Zaffarana, j & 1. 
j & 1. $' with off-shore winds. *. 
1. *in summer. Var. 18° 40' (1814). 
-L $ with, shore winds. — ^ to Caronia. "?■, 2000. 
j, but ! shoals to the west, 
j & 1. $' in the bay to the east. 
651 feet. IB. Var. 18° 10' in 1814. 
262 feet. T & 1. Var. 18° 38' (1814). 
320 feet. In the bay, $'. 
1. ■$. Fine beach for watering. •*. 
j, but (5 close under. *. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



443 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Sicily. 


O 1 II 


o / II 




Faro point, the light 


38 15 50 


15 40 40 


70 feet. $ on the spit, but ! currents. 


Grotta point, rotonda 


38 14 20 


15 35 30 


Betw. it & P. Pezzo, no bottom with 200 fins. 


Messina, lighthouse 


38 11 30 


15 34 40 


74f. HI. Var.l8°33';Dip58°56';In.270(1815). 


Mount Dinnamare 


38 8 30 
38 1 45 


15 27 30 
15 27 45 


3112 feet. A good mark in the Faro. 
j. Temporary $ south of the point. 


Scaletta, castle 


Point S. Alessio, harhican 


37 52 30 


15 21 10 


Betw. it & C. dell'Armi, no bot. with 750 fins. 


Taormina, telegraph 


37 48 15 


15 17 40 


890. _^i Moorish castle 1305, & Mola 1519. 


Mount JEtna, summit 


37 43 31 


15 


^ 10,874f. Radius of vision, 150 mil. 


Riposto, prison tower 


37 40 10 


15 12 50 


JL. $' in off-shore winds. 


Trizza, high Cyclop rock ... 


37 32 


15 10 5 


E. 1 outside, but ! inner ||s. 


Catania, mole-head 


37 28 20 


15 5 15 


ES. 1 in approach. Var. 18° 5' (1814). 

T&l. E. *. <*-- 

m. Var. 17° 40' in 1814. 


La Bruca, the castle 


37 16 20 
37 12 50 


15 11 35 
15 13 15 


Agosta or Augusta, light 


Magnisi tower 


37 9 25 


15 13 45 


$ in Panagia bay. 


Syracuse, lighthouse 


37 2 58 


15 16 50 


m. Var. 17° 45', Dip 58° 3' in 1814. 


Cape Morro di Porco 


37 


15 18 58 


j and 1. 8 . 


Lognina tower 


36 5S 15 


15 15 


JL. X in the cove. •*-. 


Avola, the tonnara 


36 55 10 
36 49 12 


15 8 5 
15 5 20 


$■' in summer, and land winds. ¥. 
m. Mag. var. 16° 40' in 1814. 


Vindicari tower 


Marzamemi tower 


36 45 30 
36 41 30 


15 6 45 
15 8 56 


X'. _^ to Pachino. ■*. *-. 

T &I. X. || for boats. Var. 16° 24' (1814). 


Passaro isle, redoubt 


Current isle, summit 


36 38 10 


15 3 5 


T with !. To the west 8. ■*. ^r. 


Pozzallo, fort 


36 44 40 


14 50 48 


$' in off-shore winds. 


Cape Scalambra, tower ... 


36 46 13 


14 30 15 


X. Approach with !. ■*■. rr. 


Scogliettl, chapel 


36 52 34 


14 27 25 




Terra-nova, Doric column 


37 2 54 


14 15 


1 beach. $' in land winds. 


Alicata, the castle 


37 4 3 


13 55 54 


X. Mag. var. 16° 58' in 1815. 


Palma, marina 


37 8 47 


13 43 11 


Girgenti, mole-light 


37 15 39 


13 31 40 


ES & # outside. Var. 17° 0' in 1817. 


Girgenti, temple of Juno . . . 


37 16 38 


13 35 40 


In Agrigentum. Dip 58° 5' in 1814. 


Girgenti, cathedral 


37 17 44 


13 34 6 


A mark in taking anchorage. 


Seculiana, the church 


37 19 50 


13 25 28 


X. In off-shore winds $'. •*•. 


Cape Bianco, turret 


37 22 25 


13 16 27 


!. Distant Calata-bellota peak, 3800. 


Sciacca, castel Peralta 


37 29 50 


13 4 46 


M. Calogero 1035. Var. 17° 30' (1814). 


Cape San Marco, tower . . . 


37 29 15 


13 20 


7-. $ with !. 


Selinuntum, ruins of 


37 36 14 


12 46 32 


Temple of Neptune. Beach below X. <t>. 


Cape Granitola, point 


37 33 67 


12 36 39 


Approach with !. At night 8. 


Mazzara, the citadel 


37 39 56 


12 33 59 


EQ. || the Salemi. Var. 17° 37' (1814). 


Marsala, cape Boeo chapel 


37 48 10 


12 25 10 


E. Mole-light 55 feet. In road V. 




37 52 54 


12 28 14 


Gate of ancient Motya. *-. 

|| to Borrone & Favilla salterns. *-. 

m. Var. 17M0', Dip 58° 55' (1815). 




37 55 45 


12 27 50 


Trapani, Colombara light 


38 1 53 


12 30 18 



444 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Sicily. 


o / n 


O 1 II 




M. S. Julian, Saracenic T. 


38 2 58 


12 37 5 


2184 feet. Mark in the ||s. 


Cape Cofano, summit 


38 7 21 


12 42 48 


j & 1. $ off Messa tonnara. 


Sicilian Islands. 








Stromboluzzo, summit 


38 49 16 


15 14 


Also Strombolino. T & 1. [ 240 ft. nr. 


Stromboli, S. Bartolo church 


38 48 12 


15 13 10 


Schiceiola crater station 2171. Sum. 2800. $ . 


Basiluzza, the ruin 


38 39 50 


15 7 54 


j & 1. d in || to Panaria. 


Ann's reef, three fathoms .. . 


38 35 


15 8 


d Q in || between it and Bottaro. (3(3 Q . 


Panaria, port Castello 


38 37 40 


15 2 55 


E. The isle 1 around. 


Penrose rocks, four fathoms 


38 38 20 


14 54 40 


d, being in mid || Panaria and Salina. 


Salina, Amalfi church 


38 35 40 


14 47 35 


1. d . _^ Mts. Salvatore & Vergine. 


Bentinck shoal, 2^ fathoms 


38 28 52 


14 49 20 


d. -L. Safe || to Scoglio del Bagno. (3(3 Q . 


Lipaki, the castle 


38 27 56 


14 57 50 


S.Varl8°50' (1815). M.S. Angelo990. 
j. l . Like a ship, -<-. \\ to Yulcano S Q . 


Pietra lunga, summit 


38 25 40 


14 54 40 


Vulcano, sulphur ivories ... 


38 23 19 


14 55 56 


£ in cove formed by Vulcanello. M. Aria 2400. 


Felicudi, the church 


38 34 5 


14 29 37 


1. Station on M. Permera 1950. 


Canna rock, summit 


38 35 2 


14 25 42 


j, 1, [ . Like a ship, 286 feet. or. 


A licudi, the church 


38 32 41 


14 16 30 


j & 1 all round. $ . *. 


Ustica, fort Falconara 


38 43 17 


13 11 10 


j & 1. 1 in Santa Maria cove. 


TJstica, Walker's rocks 


38 44 40 


13 10 30 


!. 1 all round, but two fathoms on. 


Maretimo, the castle 


38 1 10 


12 3 55 


T & 1. X' ^ to 2300 feet. 


Zevanzo, guard-house 


38 1 38 


12 20 29 


j & 1 around. d a . &. *-. 


Porcelli rocks, a-wash 


38 4 30 


12 26 45 


1 and d. 1. P(3 . 


Formiche, tonnarapier ... 


38 37 


12 25 53 


\M. Mag. var. 17° 15' in 1815. 


Favignana, fort Leonardo 


37 57 40 


12 18 30 


E, and $■' for a fleet in the road. 


Favignana, S. Catarina ... 


37 56 36 


12 17 45 


1249 feet. Excellent sea-mark. *-. 


Favignana, S. Catarina sh. 


37 53 40 


12 17 10 


S Q in || to Point Sottile. (3(3 U . 


Skerki shoals 


37 44 53 


10 45 15 


For this, & others around, see coast of Tunis. • 


Pantellaria, prison fort . . . 


36 51 15 


11 54 29 


\M. Mag. var. 16° 15' in 1817. % «■* 


Pantellaria, Sataria point 


36 45 40 


12 4 20 


~^. to 2213 ft. || for boats betw. point & rock. 


Linosa, landing cove 


35 51 50 


12 52 9 


1. $ o . Highest crater, 522 ft. *. *-. 


Lampedusa, Capo Ponente 


35 31 


12 29 57 


T & 1. 378 feet. ¥ *. ^. 


Lampedusa, castle 


35 29 19 


12 35 10 


m. Mag. var. 16° 23' in 1822. 


Lampion rock, ruin 


35 32 47 


12 19 50 


140 ft. T & 1. Var. 16° 30' in 1822. 


Maltese Islands. 








Gozo I., Cape S. Demitri... 


36 3 20 


14 9 


j & 1. c? in rounding the cliffs. 


Gozo I., the castle 


36 1 30 


14 14 35 


Summit 570 ft. Yar. 16° 36' (1816). 
El. ^ in || to Comino. 


Gozo I., fort Chambray ... 


35 59 37 


14 16 55 


Comino I., tower redoubt 


35 59 6 


14 19 48 


X' in the coves. ||s quite clear. 


Malta I., Torre Fossa 


35 57 31 


14 20 54 


Commands Melhehabay& Comino || . *. 


Malta I., St. Paul's tower 


35 56 26 


14 25 25 


E. $'• Traditional site of S. Paul's wreck. 


Malta I., Civita Vecchia... 


35 51 57 


14 25 


Cathedral, in the Rabatto, or suburb. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



445 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Maltese Islands. 


O / It 


o / n 




Malta I., Valetta palace 


35 53 55 


14 30 50 


240 feet. Var. 17° 21' in 1816. 11. 


Malta I., St. Elmo light ... 


35 54 12 


14 31 20 


167 feet. Between the two ports. 


Malta I., Dockyard sheers 


35 53 


14 31 10 


m. Var. 17°;Dip 57° 42'; Int. 443 (1822). 


Malta I., S. Thomas castle 


35 52 15 


14 33 45 


JL in Marsa Scala. ! Mansciar reef. 


Malta I., P. del' Mare ... 


35 49 47 


14 33 10 


1. S in rounding, with !. 


Malta I., Marsa Scirocco 


35 50 15 


14 32 30 


St. Lucian's castle. Var. 17°20' (1816). 


Malta I., Benhisa tower . . . 


38 48 56 


14 32 20 


|| between the point and reef, but !. 


Malta I., Bocca di Vento 


35 52 40 


14 21 40 


&,. -^. to Benjemma heights, 500. *. 


Filfoia rock, summit 


35 47 12 


14 27 


T & 1. d in ||. Var. 16° 25' (1823). 


Naples, continued. 








Torre Mattoni 


40 22 36 
40 27 19 


16 50 30 

17 14 5 


|| of the Bradano. S . j. % nr. 
Var. 16° 0', Dip 59° 55' (1816). ffl. 


Taranto, citadel 


Cape Santo Vito 


40 23 40 


17 12 30 


Light 23 feet, j with !. *. 
Approach with !. &.<#•. ,-<-. 


Port Cesar eo, tower 


40 13 


17 55 50 


Gallipoli, castle 


40 1 51 


17 58 


IB. Before the city $, with !. 


Ugento shoal 


39 50 


18 10 20 


Giurlitto reef d, /3. Town 498, 


Cape S. Maria di Leuca . . . 


39 47 53 


18 23 12 


476. Convent column, j & 1. [ but $ . 


Gagliano, cove 


39 50 43 


18 23 40 


_^ to town 495. 1. *. ^-. 


Cape Otranto, telegraph ... 


40 7 20 


18 30 16 


East extreme of Italy. *~. 


Otranto, castle 


40 9 5 


18 28 45 


Mag. var. 15° 15' in 1816. JL. 


Lecce, cathedral 


40 21 


18 10 28 


Capital of Terra di Otranto. 


Torre di Cavallo 


40 38 


18 4 58 


On the north d. !. 


Brindist, castello di mare 


40 39 21 


18 27 


Var. 15° 6', Dip 59° 42' (1816). ffl. 


Torre di Penna 


40 41 
40 42 45 
40 57 10 


17 59 25 
17 50 30 
17 20 55 


Cape Gallo 1. 7-. *-. 

1 in the cove. Outside $. 

7-. With off-shore winds, V. 


Chuiceto islet 


Monopoli, point Paradi . . . 


Polignano, Paolo rock 


40 59 47 


17 16 20 


j. _^ to Mount Bagiolara. £,. 


Mola, castle 


41 3 50 


17 7 38 


l r •*•. In land winds, $ y . 


Bari, the pier-head 


41 7 56 


16 54 29 


£,. Var. 16° 15' in 1816. 


Giovinazzo, turret 


41 12 


16 42 40 


In Spiriticchio cove, X ; . 


Molfetta, mole 


41 12 44 


16 37 13 


Between the light and rock, 1. 


Bisceglia, pier-head 


41 14 25 


16 31 14 


Inside JL'. Outside d Q . 7-. 


Trani, dogana 


41 17 52 


16 26 45 


X' in the port. In the road $. 


Barletta, light 


41 20 25 


16 19 27 


E. In the road $'. j. 


Torre di Rivoli 


41 29 5 


15 57 


|| river Carapella, and Lake Salpi. 
Var. 14° 55' in 1819. H. V by T . 


Manfredonia, mole 


41 37 40 


15 55 58 


Mt. S. Angelo, hermitage... 


41 42 30 


15 57 


S. Angelo summit, 2400, ^ . 


Monte Cairo, the station . . . 


41 43 50 


15 47 


Highest peak of the Gargano, 3500. 


Viesti, S. Croce rock 


41 52 35 


16 11 23 


_^. and ¥. X. Outside t, y. *-. 


Peschici, landing-place 


41 56 48 


16 1 20 


$ with land winds. ^. 


Varano, west tower 


41 55 20 


15 48 30 


|| into the fishery. ¥. 

S. Nicola castle, 260. j & 1. $. «r. 


Tremiti isles, telegraph . . . 


42 7 15 


15 29 50 



446 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Naples — continued. 


O / II 


O 1 II 




Pianosa islet 


42 12 38 


15 45 30 


48 ft. Var. 15° 26' (1819). 1. d . ¥ . ^. 
On Cala-roscia tower. ¥. 


Mileto point, telegraph 


41 55 44 


15 38 10 


Termoli, telegraph 


42 26 


15 11 


150. 1 with 7-. ft t. 


Monte Majella 


42 5 


14 6 


8500 feet. On the flanks % 


Vasto, campanile 


42 6 36 


14 43 20 


600. On the hill Aimone. 


Punta di Penne, turret . . . 


42 10 5 


14 43 57 


1 in approach, but 7-. 


Ortonammare, mole 


42 20 29 


14 26 27 


Var. 16° 0' in 1819. X,. $ in offing. 


CJiieti, steeple 


42 21 15 


14 11 


1250. Mark for Ortona. 


Pescara, madre chiesa ...... 


42 27 


14 14 5 


|| river Pescara, from M. Majella. 


Monte Corno, summit 


42 28 


13 35 


Gran Sasso d' Italia, 9570. 


Atri, cathedral 


42 35 


13 59 


1590. Over Galbano, or Calvano, its port. 


Vomano tower 


42 39 


14 3 15 


|| riv. Vomano. .^to M. Pagano, 1020. 




42 52 32 


13 52 30 


Frontier post of Naples, 1080. 


Papal States. 






42 54 30 


13 56 16 
13 52 38 


|| river Tronto. X. 7-. 
_^ to the town, 450. 


Grottamare, Lama fort ... 


42 59 50 


Ripatransone, steeple 


43 


13 46 41 


Standard point, 1 750 feet. 


Fermo, marina 


43 10 10 


13 48 30 


|| river Lete. __^ to the city, 1200. 


Eecanati, port 


43 25 48 


13 39 50 


_^ to the city, 1400. 


Loreto, cathedral 


43 26 42 


13 36 50 


On a height, 565 feet. 


Monte Conero, chapel 


43 33 14 


13 36 5 


Summit 1900 feet. 


Porto Nuovo, Trave 


43 34 48 


13 35 


El. -^. 7-. * but ¥ . nr. 


Ancona, mole-light 


43 37 40 


13 30 3 


130 feet. Var. 16° 26' in 1819. 


Sinigaglia, mole-head 


43 43 20 


13 13 9 


X' for boats. Outside $' with !. 


Fano, lighthouse 


43 50 57 
43 55 31 


13 1 


7-. With off-shore winds $'. 
Open, but 7-. •*. 
Sea-mark for the coast, 980. 


Pesaro, mole-light 


12 53 58 


Monte Luro, spire 


43 54 47 


12 46 10 


San Marino, steeple 


43 56 30 


12 27 


A republic. Sea-mark 2470. 


Rimino, mole-head 


44 4 18 


12 34 20 


|| Marecchia. Var. 16° 50' in 1819. 


Cesenatico, pier 


44 12 46 


12 24 20 


In land winds $'. ¥. 




44 15 50 


12 21 10 


107. On with mole-light $'. f. 
Now far inland. ¥. 


Ravenna, rotonda 


44 24* 55 


12 12 40 


Porto Primaro, battery ... 


44 35 18 


12 17 45 


|| for boats. 7-. $. 


Comae chio, steeple 


44 41 2 


12 10 49 


135. || from Port Magnavacca. 


Volano, telegraph 


44 48 15 


12 15 25 


|| of the Po di Volano. f. *-. 


Goro, Gorino battery 


44 48 55 


12 22 21 


[2. In Sacca dell' Abbate $'. 


Venice. 








Porto della Maestra 


44 59 11 


12 27 40 


Main || of the Po. [33. AK 


Adria, belfry 


45 3 25 


12 4 


Between it and the sea ¥. 


Port Brondolo 


45 10 10 


12 19 46 


|| of Brenta Nuova. X'. 7-. 
150. E. Var. 17° 28' in 1819. 


Chioggia, Castel Felice . . . 


45 13 48 


12 18 50 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIOXS. 



447 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Venice. 


O / It 


o / " 


Fort S. Pietro 


45 20 10 


12 20 43 


|| of Malamocco. ffl. In roads $'. 


Venice, S. Mark's belfry... 


45 25 48 


12 21 40 


315. Var. 17° 1W; Dip 65° 8'; Int. 248 (1819). 


Fort S. Andrea 


45 26 28 


12 24 31 


|| of Lido S. In the roads $. 


Cortellazzo, battery 


45 32 7 


12 45 20 


|| of river Piave. $,. r<~. 


Caorle, steeple 


45 35 39 


12 54 37 


155. || of Livenza. Var. 17° 40' (1819). 


Port Tagliamento 


45 38 30 


13 6 5 


|| of the river. X. ■*•. nr. 


Port Lignano 


45 41 20 


13 9 57 


E. Outside $. ¥. ^r. 


Grado, campanile 


45 40 44 


13 22 57 


160. A mark for the coast, y. 


Aquilea, campanile 


45 46 


13 22 30 


250. Seen over drowned lands. ¥. 


Point Sdobba, telegraph ... 


45 43 40 


13 33 


|| of the Isonzo. E. 


Isteia. 








Monfalcone, centre 


45 48 20 


13 32 14 


La Rocca, 300 feet. ■*. 


Duino castle, flagstaff 


45 46 14 


13 35 58 


In Sacco di Panzano. E. $'. 


Trieste, Sta. Teresa mole 


45 38 49 


13 46 15 


Light 106 f. m. *. ^totheKarst, 1590. 


Trieste, castle flagstaff 


45 38 25 


13 46 47 


310. Var. 16° 54', Dip 65° 13' (1819). 


Capo d'Istria, Sanita 


45 32 32 


13 44 12 


46 feet. On an insulated rock. *•. 


Isola, campanile 


45 31 58 


13 40 


185. X. In the road $. 


Pirano, San Giorgio belfry 


45 31 18 


13 33 54 


240 feet. Var. 16° 5' (1819). IS. ffi'. 


Cape Salvore, lighthouse . . . 


45 28 57 


13 29 47 


117. Cala Mosca of Bassania. 


Omago, steeple 


45 23 50 


13 31 30 


110 ft. H. Outside $. _^ to Buje, 890. 


Cittanova, battery 


45 18 36 


13 32 55 


Here and Port Quieto El, and t. 


Parenzo, islet convent 


45 13 34 


13 35 10 


S. *\ Var. 16° 21' in 1819. 


Orsera, church 


45 8 30 


13 36 12 


IS, but ! in approach. ¥. 


Rovigno, S. Eufemia spire 


45 4 36 


13 37 39 


330 feet. 1. m. ^. 


Dignano, church 


44 57 25 


13 51 14 


Mark for Canale di Fasana. 


Fasana, the mole 


44 55 16 


13 48 10 


Between it and Brionis EB. *. *-. 
m. *. Var. 15°, Dip 64° 38' (1819). 
Summit, 149 feet. ¥. 1. 


Pola, Olive islet 


44 52 18 


13 50 10 


Pola, Cape Brancorso 


44 51 42 


13 48 37 


Port Veruda, isle convent. . . 


44 49 28 


13 50 24 


118 feet. 1. E. ¥. ^. 


CapePromontore, Porerrock 


44 45 27 


13 53 54 


Lighthouse 111 feet. 8. 1 


Port Bado, landing-place. . . 


44 53 46 


13 59 57 


1. X. * but ¥ D . ! for boras. 


Punta Nera, tower 


44 57 55 


14 8 30 


T- 1. -^ to M. Ostrina, 1760. 


Albona, church 


45 4 46 


14 7 40 


1160 feet. Shores beneath 1. 


Fianona, steeple 


45 7 51 


14 11 


640 feet. X but !. ¥. 


Mount Colder o, or Maggiore 


45 16 32 


14 11 57 


4530 feet. Sea-mark around. ¥■. 


Croatia. 








Kastua, black castle 


45 23 12 


14 20 10 


On a hill inland. ¥. 

|| river Reka. £ but wind. $' 


Fiume, landing-place 


45 19 5 


14 25 43 


Porto Re, arsenal 


45 16 


14 33 36 


$', but torn by boras. 


S. Marco islet 


45 14 55 


14 33 


|| Maltempo. 1 but !. 
A clean cove, but !. 


Kernovitza, chapel 


45 6 30 


14 50 



448 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITION'S. 



Place, 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Croatia. 


O / (1 


o t a 




Segna, mole-head 


44 59 40 


14 54 10 


J, 1. Ravaged by boras. 
^ to M. Velebich. % 


Jablanaz, chapel 


44 42 30 


14 53 30 


Karlopago, mole 


44 31 40 


15 3 56 


1, but ! boras. Var. 17° 10' (1819). 
J and 1, but !. 


Lukovo, landing-place 


44 26 8 


15 11 


Castel Venier 


44 15 


15 27 40 


|| of Novigradi lake. !. 
When inside ||, S3, rr. 


Novigradi, fortress 


44 10 10 


15 32 9 


Karin, convent 


44 7 


15 36 10 


|| of Karisniza [X]. ¥. 


Croatian Islands. 








Puntadura, station 


44 18 10 


15 3 50 


355. Dinarapeak in Julian Alps, 8500. 


Pago, fort Glubatz 


44 19 22 


15 15 10 


Commands || into Morlacca ||. 


Pago I., landing-place ... 


44 27 2 


15 2 50 


Land-locked, but ravaged by boras. 


Pago, point Loni 


44 42 10 


14 43 30 


J & 1 With !. •*•• rr. 


Pago, M. San Vito 


44 28 30 
44 26 20 


14 59 40 
14 54 


1150 feet. Theodolite station, 
j & 1 in Pago ||, but !. 


Maon Isle, chapel 


Arbe I., steeple 


44 45 7 
44 56 42 


14 44 45 
14 40 30 


X but !. Var. 17° 0' in 1819. 
|| to Besca-vecchia j. rr. 


Gaglian rock 


Veglia I., madre chiesa ... 


45 1 40 


14 33 58 


$ but !. t. 


Veglia, vol Dobrigno 


45 8 20 


14 35 40 


C2 but ! for boras. 


Kerso, Farasina convent . . . 


45 7 49 


14 16 56 


T- 1. -^ to Mount Sys, 1680. 


Kerso I., Sanita, 


44 57 36 


14 23 50 


H. In bay d , but for winds !. ¥ 


Kerso, Osero church 


44 41 5 
44 43 12 


14 22 51 
14 10 10 


||s 1, but !. 

In the Quarnero ||. [. rr. 


Galiola rock, centre 


TJnie I. , Porto-lungo 


44 38 35 


14 15 38 


1 but !. *. rr. 


Sansego I., mount Garbi ... 


44 31 4 


14 17 45 


350 feet. p[3 to the N.W. f . 


Lossini, mount Osero 


44 40 16 


14 21 38 


1900. Isle also named Lossin Piccolo. 


Lossini I. , port Augusto 


44 32 6 


14 27 21 


Arsenal. Var. 16° 58' in 1819. *. 


S. Pietro di Nembo I. 


44 28 


14 32 10 


Ilovatz chapel. E3 in ||. r<-. 


Grivitsa rock 


44 24 30 


14 33 30 


|| of the Quarnerolo. [,. 


Selve I., town church 


44 22 39 


14 40 43 


|| to S. Pietro d, !. ^. 


Vlbo I., town 


44 22 15 


14 46 15 


Mag. var. 17° 6' in 1819. 


Dalmatia. 








Nona, steeple 


44 14 30 


15 10 15 


In the basin, [2. 


Zara, bastion S. Francesco 


44 6 39 


15 12 49 


Var. 14° 13', Dip 64° 20' (1819). H. 


Mount Vratsavo 


44 2 
43 56 27 


15 24 
15 26 40 


710 feet. Inland ^ to 4900. 
In ||, $' with !. rr. 


Zara Vecchia, steeple 


Monte Nero, station 


43 54 


15 39 


970. Mark for Lake Vrana. 


Slozella, landing-place 


43 49 


15 40 


With ! V. * but f^ rr. 


Sebenico, Castel-vecchio . . . 


43 44 15 


15 52 45 


J. 1. Var. 15° 8' in 1819. ffl. 


Capo Oesto, tower 


43 34 52 


15 54 45 


1 but !. T . m. ^. 


Ragosnitsa, mole 


43 31 17 


15 57 48 


T & 1. ffl. Var. 14° 30' in 1819. 


Port Manera, landing-place 


43 29 36 


16 28 


X. ^. _^ to M. Movar, 400. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



449 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude, 


Notanda. 


Dalmatia. 


O 1 II 


O , II 




Trau, S. Mark's tower 


43 30 46 


16 14 58 


In || Trau, Bua, and Salona ffl. 


Spalateo, cathedral 


43 30 11 


16 26 10 


Diocletian's palace. Var. 15° 0' (1819). 


Spalatro, fort Botticella . . . 


43 29 19 


16 25 45 


HI. In bay $ r M. Maglian, 550. 


Almissa, convent 


43 26 20 


16 42 10 


In the ||, J and 1. $. 


Monte Borah 


43 26 
43 16 59 


16 44 

17 1 16 


2800 feet. * and *. 

Yar. 14° 45' (1819) . M. Sustvid, 3800, -^ 5900. 


Macarska, chapel 


Fort Opus, flagstaff 


43 1 45 


17 35 


||s of river Narenta. ,-*-. 


Fort Smer dan 


42 56 50 


17 33 20 


_^toM. Ulico, 1800. Turkish confine. 


Sabbioncello, point Ossit . . . 


42 59 50 


16 59 30 


II Curzola, $'. _^ to M. Vipere, 3160. 


Sabbioncello, Val di Briesta 


42 54 


17 31 10 


Access !, *■. M. Sukino, 2050. 


Monto-rogo, summit 


42 46 


17 56 


2810. Slanobetweenit&M.Tmor,2965. 


Isola Rudda, station 


42 42 37 


17 55 10 


II of Kalamota, all $' and ES. r-r. 


Ragusa, mole battery 


42 38 16 


18 6 39 


-^ to fort Imperial, 1350. E£L $. Inland, 4500. 


Ragusa, fort S. Marco ... 


42 37 40 


18 6 54 


310. OnLakromaisle. Var. 16° 0' (1819). ¥ . 


Ragusa Vecchia, chapel ... 


42 35 


18 12 


j 1. j. In Prahlivaz, ffl. 


Molonto, port Piccolo 


42 27 5 


18 25 


1. IB,:Mark,;S.Elia,1850. Onthe coast $ , to- 


Dalmatian Islands. 








Premuda, summit 


44 20 20 
44 16 15 


14 36 30 
14 44 50 


1, except on the N.W. *~. 
_u£ to Monte Guardia, 560. 


Isto, magazine 


Melada, Banastra point . . . 


44 12 18 


14 48 58 


In port Beguglia, HI. 


Klib rock, or Diboskik 


44 13 35 


14 54 


T . 1. 1, but difficult. ^. 


Grossa, point Bianche light 


44 9 10 


14 48 40 


|| of the Sette Bocche. 1. !. f . 


Grossa, M. Vela Stratza . . . 


43 59 


15 2 30 


1100. Landfall for Grossa or Lunga. 


Grossa, mount Krepassia.. 


43 54 24 


15 6 50 


Port Tajer, j. 1. |JB. 


I iicoronata, M. Opat 


43 43 38 


15 26 25 


Summit of the isle, 760. 


Curbabdla, east peak 


43 41 15 


15 30 55 


380 feet. * but f . 


Sestrugn, summit 


44 9 55 


14 59 20 


1 but !. rr, 


Eso, the port 


44 1 52 


15 5 40 


1. T . Var. 15° 50' in 1819. 


Ugliano, castle 


44 4 39 


15 8 42 


879. || of Zara, S . 


Pasman, church 


43 57 20 


15 22 58 


S in || with !. Summit 893. 


Vergada, summit 


43 51 10 


15 30 15 


370 feet. ! in the ||s. 


Zut, summit 


43 51 50 


15 18 46 


Station on Velikivak. *-. 


Morter, Gessera chapel . . . 


43 47 58 


15 38 14 


6' in ||. _^ to Broskitza, 359. 


Zlarina, port 


43 41 40 


15 49 58 


^ to M. Batokio, 540 feet. 


Siaajan, summit 


43 42 5 


15 44 12 


457 feet. 1 in ||s, but !. 


Zuri, mount Bohl 


43 39 
43 32 30 


15 37 50 
15 51 


380. d in ||s with !. ,*-. 
6 fathoms, ||s around deep. 


Suilan, Aid rock 


Zirona, port Grande 


43 26 48 


16 8 30 


||s £ with ! m. rr. 


Solta, port Sordo 


43 23 


16 18 25 


1. 23. *• -^ to M. Stratsa, 695. 


Bratsa, Milna church 


43 19 23 


16 27 16 


d in ii. m. *. *% 


Bratsa, Stjepanska church 


43 20 36 


16 39 10 


|| to main land j, 1, & d . *-. 


Bratsa, Bol cove 


43 15 10 


16 39 42 


T & 1. _^ to M. San Vito, 2560. 



G G 



450 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Dalmatian Islands. 


O / II 


O / 1, 




Lesina, S. Giorgio tower . . . 


43 7 20 


17 11 10 


8 in ||s. ^ M. Glavalikova, 1390. 


Lesina, cathedral 


43 9 10 


16 26 29 


m. Var. 14° 5', Dip 62° 42' (1819). 


Lesina, M. S. Nicolo 


43 8 30 


16 30 


2100. Mark in outer ||. 


Tor cola, pt. Masliniza 


43 5 28 


16 42 35 


1 on all sides. *. *-. 


Bacili rocks, largest 


43 4 57 


16 34 30 


d , j & 1 around, ^r. 


Lissa, S. Francis steeple... 


43 3 22 


16 10 12 


Var. 14° 0', Dip 62° 51', Int. 240 (1819). H. 


Lissa, Stupisca point 


43 26 


16 4 


||s 8 . _^ to M. Huhm, 1940. 


JBusi isle, station 


42 58 10 


16 1 27 


790 feet, j & 1. JL,. *. 


S. A ndrea in Pelago 


43 1 25 


15 45 20 


Ruins _^ to summit, 1020. ¥. rr. 


Porno rock, summit 


43 5 35 


15 27 25 


14/toW.byN.£,otherws.l. 100. [ . ^. 


Pelagosa, M. Crocella 


42 23 49 


16 16 20 


150 feet. $ with !. ^. 


Katsa, summit 


42 45 56 


16 31 12 


830. T &1. «b. ^. 


Katsiola, summit 


42 44 50 


16 42 30 


*. /3/3 on shoal W. by S. *-. 


Lagosta, S. Rafael 


42 45 39 


16 49 


j & 1. H. _^ to M. S. Giorgio, 1390. 


Lagostini rocks, Glovat . . . 


42 45 10 


17 8 27 


1 in approach, but [ . -r. 


Curzola, Blatta mole 


42 57 32 


16 43 11 


m. t. Var. 15° 10' in 1819. 


Curzola, port Raciskie 


42 58 


17 56 


E. ^ to M. Dobravasca, 1880. ¥. 


Curzola, fort S. Biagio ... 


42 57 30 


17 7 18 


H.Var.l4°55'(1819).M.Vipere,3100. 


Meleda, port Palazzo . . . 


42 46 50 


17 21 52 


Ruined palace. Var. 15°0' (1819). H.^. 


Meleda, port Surra 


42 44 50 


17 35 


1.$. ^M.Grado,1670(MezzaMeleda). 


Melada, M. Plagnak 


42 42 10 


17 42 58 


1190. Mark for Val Sablonava. 


S. Andrea, di Ragusa 


42 38 10 


17 57 20 


Donzella chapel, 185. j & 1. 


Marcano isle, station 


42 34 37 


18 10 51 


j & -L. d with !. *-. 


Albania. 








Cottar o, point d' Ostro 


42 23 22 


18 31 12 


|| of two ' Bocche/ _^ 220, 8 . ¥ . 


Cattaro, point Morale 


42 28 28 


18 40 


j. 1. _^ M. Desviglie, 2541. *-. 


Cattaro, city mole 


42 25 25 


18 45. 47 


EB. ^ M. Sella, 3240. Var. 14° 25' (1818). 


Cattaro, porto Rosa 


42 25 22 


18 31 40 


m. ^ M. Lustitsa, 1900 feet. *. 


Monte Vetergnak 


42 19 


18 53 


3960. Above Stagnevich convent. 


Buclua, M. S. Salvatore . . . 


42 17 45 


18 49 25 


Above the town, 1250. H. f . 


Budua, S. Nicolo isle 


42 15 45 


18 50 47 


Observation stone, 365 feet. 


Antivari, old dogana 


42 2 11 


19 7 21 


t. Var. 14° 57' (1818), _^ to 4500. 


Dulcigno, la Cala 


41 53 58 


19 11 49 


H. In the road t. ¥. 

1. Near || river Bojana. [. *-. 


Peregrino rock 


41 51 47 


19 15 40 


San Giovanni di Medua . . . 


41 48 20 


19 29 


m. II Drino. % Var. 14° 0' (1818). 


Cape Rodoni, station 


41 36 35 


19 28 10 


1 with !. _^ 400 feet. f. 


Cape Pali, summit 


41 23 5 


19 24 14 


In the bay $'. ¥. rr. 

$' with !. Var. 13° 50' (1818). 

340. From base to Kavaja, /3/3 . 


Durazzo, the mole 


41 18 15 


19 26 54 


Cape Laglii, tower 


41 10 10 


19 25 40 


Point Samana, centre 


40 48 55 


19 17 37 


|| river Tuberathi. d at night. &. *~. 


Mount Pegola 


40 54 30 


20 7 


7760 feet. Peak over Berat. 


Talao rocks, centre 


40 38 


19 18 30 


|| river Vojutza, or Poro. !. rr. 

.1 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



451 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Albania. 


o r 'I 


o , / ,. n 1 


Avlona, dogana 


40 27 15 


19 26 20 


EE. Var. 14° 0', Dip 60° 38', Int. 231 (1818). 


A lion a, fort Kanina 


40 26 41 


19 27 30 


1360 feet. ¥. 


Sasseno isle, station 


40 29 10 


19 14 12 


Summit 988. j & 1. d . ^. 


Cape Linguetta, extreme ... 


40 25 37 


19 15 


1. ^ to 2990 feet. % 


Voile delV Orso 


40 19 12 


19 20 35 


JL. ^ 1546 feet, and 4300. 


Monte Cica 


40 14 36 

40 8 45 


19 35 
19 37 30 


6300, mark for Gremata cove. 

j, but 1. _^ M. Cicara, 5470, _^^.. 


Strada Bianca, extreme . . . 


Port Palermo, fort 


40 2 55 


19 48 10 


m. Var. 14° 30' in 1818. 


Santi Quaranta, dogana... 


39 53 46 


20 14 


8 by j. $'. _^ to the town. <*>. 


Butrinto, guard-house 


39 44 34 


19 59 42 


II of the Fishery and Lake. $'. ^r. 


Gomenitsa, Prasudi rock... 


39 30 13 


20 9 7 


$' but ! the bank off || Kalama. -<-. 


Gomenitsa, dogana 


39.28 46 


20 18 10 


m. Magnetic Var. 14° 30' in 1818. 


Mourtso, Sybota rock 


39 23 40 


20 13 30 


j & -L. In the bay $. *■. *-. 


Parga, the citadel 


39 16 29 


20 23 29 


m and t. Var. 13° 30' in 1819. 


Port Fanari, S. Giovanni 


39 14 4 


20 30 


|| of ancient Acheron and Cocytus. 


Kastro-sikia, dogana 


39 5 53 


20 38 48 


£„ ! the Ittisa reefs, (5. 


Previsa, fort Pantakratera 


38 56 17 


20 45 14 


|| gulf of Arta. T . Inside ffl. * . 


Vouvalos rock 


38 58 25 


20 55 


Near centre of gulf. Var. 13° 10 (1820). <*. 


LlVADIA. 






Vonitsa, the pier 


38 54 26 


20 53 14 


V m. t. ^^. inland hill, 1480. 


Fort Glorgi 


38 47 57 


20 43 40 


194. (H. || of Santa Maura. ^. 


Vwrko bay, Mytika point... 


38 40 10 


20 56 44 


S.^^M.Kandili5000,&M.Bumisti4950.^ ^. 


Dragomestre, the skala . . . 


38 32 45 


21 5 48 


m. d . M. Veloutzi, 2977. t. 


Port Plattea, inner point.. . 


38 28 10 


21 5 49 


lis i. u. *. ^. 


Port Skropha, the rock . . . 


38 18 55 


21 9 


EH. II Aspro-potamo, or Achelous. 


Missolunghi, battery 


38 21 50 


21 26 30 


Extensive lakes and marshes. ^-. 


Varasova point 


38 20 15 


21 39 


1. _^: to summit, 2830 feet. 


M. Kako-skala, summit ... 


38 21 20 


21 42 40 


3380. M. Koraka beyond, 6700. 


Kastro RUm-ili 


38 19 28 


21 47 


|| of Lepanto. 1. 8 . ¥ . 

Peaks of M. Rigani, ^ x, 4660 & 3950. 


Lepanto, landing-place ... 


38 23 15 


21 50 10 


Galaxidi, building-yard ... 


38 22 27 


22 23 20 


H. _^to2500ft. *. M.Parnassus, 3970. 


Dobrena, port Vathi 


38 11 30 


22 55 30 


*. PeaksofHeUcon,^_^,5200&5750. 


Ionian Islands. 








Fano, west summit 


39 50 20 


19 19 50 


1214 feet, _^ ^_ 1, except on the N.E. 
7-. X. ■*. but ¥ . ■>*-. 


Merlera, summit 


39 53 28 


19 31 57 


Samotraki, central hillock 


39 45 44 


19 28 5 


! & 7- in approaching. 8. *-. 


Diaplo isle, centre 


39 45 37 


19 32 40 


T~ and ! in the ||s. 8. *-. 
Middle of north Corfu ||. (,. 


Tignosa rock, light 


39 47 56 


19 57 28 


Corfu, Santa Katerina . . . 


39 50 4 


19 49 58 


|| of S. Spiridione. *. 


Corfu, M. Safoatore 


36 13 30 


19 49 20 


S.W. peak 2590. Mark in the ||. 


ViDO I., fort Alexander ... 


39 38 5 


19 55 38 


Var. 1 1 83'j Dm- 58° KKj Int. 338, in | 



GG 2 



452 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Ionian Islands. 


O 1 IP 


o i n 




Corfu, Benitse villa 


39 32 14 


19 54 29 


$, but open. _^ Santa Dekka, 2000. 


Corfu, citadel-flagstaff 


39 37 2 


19 55 44 


257 feet. E. In the roads ffl. 


Corfu, Lefkimo point 


39 27 20 


20 4 27 


t~. Low, and d at night. 


Corfu, cape Bianco 


39 20 50 


20 6 50 


Foot of the cliff. !. d. 


Corfu, Laguclia rock 


39 24 19 


19 54 50 


7- with!. /3/3 . 1 ^. 


Corfu, port Ermones 


39 35 30 


19 45 32 


X. *. ^ M. S. Giorgio, 1326. 


Corfu, Yliapades bay 


39 40 


19 41 10 


Alipa point. 1. ffl. <t>. *-. 


Corfu,, port Timona 


39 42 20 


19 36 30 


X'. _^ to Aphiona and M. Teodoro. 
369. Off the point, S. ¥. 
Madonna light, 107. ffi. 
1, but !. Var. 13° 17' (1820). *-. 


Paxo, Ldka light 


39 13 27 


20 9 15 


Paxo, port Gayo 


39 11 40 


20 12 19 


Anti-Paxo, point Novoro.. . 


39 8 37 


20 15 46 


Leucadia, Santa Maura... 


38 50 19 


20 42 58 


X. In port Drepano, E@. 


Leucadia, Scsola rock 


38 41 50 


20 32 30 


<S in ||. Opposite M. Nomali, 3700. 


Leucadia, cape Dukato 


38 33 30 


20 32 41 


j, -L. _^l to Sappho's Leap, 785. 


Leucadia, Poropeak 


38 38 14 


20 43 


1490 feet, ^ . S in ||. 


Leucadia, port Vliko 


38 40 55 


20 42 


m. Var. 13° 40' in 1820. ¥. 


Meganisi, Vathi mill 


38 39 30 


20 47 10 


280. EE, but ! in approaching. 


A rkudi, red cliff 


38 33 16 


20 42 30 


j & 1. 8 Q around, but $ . *-. 


Atoko, summit 


38 29 


20 48 28 


998 feet. 1. d , but * . ^. 


Kalarao, the port 


38 35 38 


20 52 45 


1. H. -^: to central summit, 2377. 


Kastns, central height 


38 33 


20 54 30 


498. 1 all round, f . 


Dragonara, summit 


38 29 


23 1 40 


1 in all the ||s. r-r. 


Petala, summit 


38 25 5 


21 6 30 


T . 1. m. t. Var. 13° 20' (1820), 
676 feet. 1 around, but $ . 8 . nr. 


Vromona isle, summit 


38 22 23 


21 12 


Oxia isle, summit 


38 18 54 


21 7 10 


1247. Off||Achelous.Var.l3°32'(1820). 




Ithaca, point Marmaka ... 


38 30 


20 39 5 


50. *. S . M. Neritos,orAnoi, 2350. 


Ithaca, port Vathi 


38 22 5 


20 42 47 


Lazzaretto. Var. 13° 44' (1820). ffl. 


Ithaca, point Joanni 


38 19 28 


20 46 20 


T & 1, ^ M. Stefano, or Aito, 2170. 


Cephalonia, port Viscardo 


38 27 15 


20 34 20 


730. 1 in Daskalio ||. 


Cephalonia, Samos 


38 14 30 


20 38 


$'. Ruins to the east. ¥. 


Cephalonia, point Atros ... 


38 10 20 


20 45 30 


-L, d . _^. to Napier's turret, 2656. 


Cephalonia, cape Skala . . . 


38 2 55 


20 46 38 


S. .^ to M. Elato, or Nera, 5260. % 


Cephalonia, port Argostoli 


38 11 13 


20 28 33 


The station Hook-light, 35 feet. ffl. 


Cephalonia, castle S.Giorgio 


38 8 20 


20 33 52 


998 feet. Var. 13° 24', in 1820. 


Cephalonia, Guardiana isle 


38 8 13 


20 25 30 


Lighthouse 122 feet. j. !. 


Cephalonia, cape At err a ... 


38 21 30 


20 24 33 


T & 1. X. d . _^ to 1655 feet. 


Cephalonia, fort Asso 


38 23 5 


20 32 26 


Height 410. T & 1. 


Zante, cape Skinari 


37 56 28 


20 41 24 


260. 1, d . *. Var. 13° 21' (1823). 


Zante, mount Teri 


37 50 


20 44 


2274 feet. Mark in the ||. 

IS. *'. Var. 13° 12'; Dip58°50'(1820). 


Zante, city mole-head . . . 


37 47 27 


20 54 58 


Zante, mount Skopo 


37 44 41 


20 57 5 


Convent 1489. Mark in the ||. 


Zante, Kieri bay 


37 41 15 


20 51 19 


$. Station at the Pitch-wells. 


Zante, port Vromi 


37 49 


20 39 8 


X, but$ . *. _^:toM.Vrakiona,2390. 





THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



453 



Place. 


Latitude. 


1 Longitude. 


Is otanda. 


Ionian Islands. 


O / '1 


o i ri 




Stamfani isle, convent 


37 15 12 


21 1 27 


Light 127. 1, o with !. ^. 


Prodano isle, summit 


37 1 58 


21 34 


570. iin||, S . Var.l3°44'(1820). ^. 


Sphagia, summit 


36 55 35 


21 39 37 


(Sphacteria) . 480. j. f . 


Sapienza, port Longona . . . 


36 43 42 


21 41 30 


1 & JL _^ to summit, 730 feet. *~. 


Cabrera, Skh itsa cove 


36 43 28 


21 47 38 


j. 1. d Q in the ||s, but t . *-. 


VenetUco, chapel 


36 40 47 


21 55 30 


In || to Cape GaUo. !. * . ^. 


Murmiki, or Ants 


36 38 30 


21 56 10 


1. t- Var - 12° 58' (1820). rr. 


Servi, point Franco 


36 27 15 


22 59 30 


1. Summit, 950 feet. *-. 


Cerigo, cape Spati 


36 22 40 


22 57 10 


j & 1. d in Cervi ||. ¥ . 


Cerigo, port S. Nikolo 


36 13 14 


23 5 9 


TheCastle. ffl. *'. M. S. Giorgio, 1000. 


Cerigo, Kapsali dogana . . . 


36 8 35 


23 18 


S. $. Port of Tserfgo, or Kythera. 


Cerigo, cape Lindo 


36 12 5 


22 55 


d with !. _^ to 1540. 


Ovo isle, summit 


36 5 5 


23 10 


T & 1. 1. Height 550. t . *~. 


Koupho-nisi, north islet ... 


36 7 17 


23 6 12 


T & 1. d . t . * c . ^. 


Porri islet, centre 


35 58 10 


23 15 


1 & l,but $ . c^with! Ht. 410. % *. 


Nautilus rock 


35 55 54 
35 51 56 


23 13 20 
23 18 20 


c. Var. 12° 10' in 1823. [. 

E. Var. 12° 20' ; Dip 55° 24' (1823). 


Cerigotto, Potamo fort . . . 


Cerigotto, M. Turko-vouno 


35 51 


23 18 


1100. Mrk.for||. M.Dometha,980. * . 


Grabusa, Kastro 


35 35 37 


23 33 18 


In Candia, but to complete the ||s. *-. 


Morea. 








Athens, the Parthenon . . . 


37 58 10 


23 43 50 


In Greece, but to connect. 


Corinth, dogana 


37 55 46 


22 53 52 


1. 7-. $'. Site of Lechseum. 


Corinth, citadel 


37 53 20 


22 52 58 


Acro-Corinthus. 1850 feet. 


Kamari, landing-place ... 


38 5 45 


22 34 54 


1. j- -^ M - Koryphi, 2 ^50. t. 


Vostitsa, beach fountain . . . 


38 15 10 


22 6 12 


1. V. _^ M. Pteri, 5900. » •. 


Kastro Morea, flagstaff . . . 


38 18 24 


21 49 5 


|| of Lepanto. 1. S Q . 


Patras, mole-head 


38 14 27 
38 14 34 


21 45 30 
21 45 35 


V. d by T . Var. 13° 10' in 1820. 
_^M.Yoideah,6500. M.S.IS T icolo(OZowo*)7100. 


Patras, castle flag 


Cape Papa, ruined fort ... 


38 12 40 


21 25 5 


|| Lake Kalogria. Hill to S. 2980. 


Cape Papa, sandy spit . . . 


38 13 3 


21 24 10 


7-. !. _^ Mavro-vouna, 800. ¥. -r. 


Konoupoli, rock 


38 5 29 


21 22 


1. %. % M. Santa Meriotoko, 3420. 


Klarentsa, old castle 


37 5Q 24 


21 9 35 


^-. *. Var. 13° 15' (1820). .^. 


Kastro Tornese 


37 53 44 
37 55 


21 9 33 
21 1 


795. Commands plain of Elis. 
Ibut 6. ||s safe, but !. 


Montague shoal 


Cape Katakolo 


37 38 48 


21 20 5 


T- t. *. Var. 12° 35' (1820). 


Roufea river, skala 


37 36 20 


21 29 


|| Alpheius. Var. 12° 50' (1820.) t. 


Arcadia, citadel 


37 14 30 


21 41 49 


540. _^ to 4000 feet. % 


Navarin, ruin* of Pylos ... 


36 56 40 


21 39 42 


520. Boat || to Sphaghia. 


Navarin, Kulonisi rock ... 


36 54 50 


21 40 53 


20ft, Var. 13°58' ; Dip 57°54'(1820). 


Navarin, castle flag 


36 53 35 


21 41 20 


m. M. S. Nikolo, 1600, mark for ||. 


Modon, mole-tower 


36 48 30 
36 41 50 


21 41 36 
21 54 5 


72. IE. t. Var. 13° 27' (1820). 
^ 1390, Var. 12° 15' (1823). ^. 


Cape Gallo, the pitch 



454 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 



Latitude. 



MOREA. 

Koron, castle flagstaff 

Mount Lykothimo, summit 

Kalamata, dogana 

Mount Makryno, S. Elias 

Cape Kephali, pitch 

Port Limeni, Vitylo skala 
Port Djimova, Dyko point 
Cape Grosso, Kastro Orias 
Cape Matapan, the pitch... 

Cape Stavri, extreme 

Marathonisi, Crane islet . . . 
Potamo Vasili, teach station 

Kokino, beach tower 

Xyli bay, Rupinapeak ... 
Cape Malea, S. Angelo point 
Monembasia, citadel 

Archipelago, Black Sea, 
and Levant, to Alex- 
andria, follow this Table. 
(See p. 460.) 

Egypt. 

Rosetta, fort Raschid 

Nelson's isle, Burial bay . . . 
Al Bekur, castle tower . . . 
Alexandria, Pharos castle 
Alexandria, point Eunostos 
Alexandria, Pompey's pillar 
A lexandria, Cleopatra's bath 
Alexandria, Marabut isle 

A busir, Arab's tower 

Al Ama'id, ruins 

lumeimah point 

Tanhoob, marabut 

Ras al Kanais 

Marmarica. 

Marsa Moh^derah 

Ras al Harzeit, or Baratun 
Marsa Labeit,Mhaddra rk. 

Ishailah rocks, east one 

Tifah rocks, centre 

Ras Haleimah, pitch 



36 46 35 

36 54 

37 25 
36 58 
36 53 43 
36 41 
36 38 57 
36 29 57 
36 23 55 
36 37 
36 44 24 
36 47 45 
36 45 30 
36 40 35 
36 26 14 
36 41 10 



Longitude. 



31 26 55 
31 21 54 
31 20 17 
31 12 40 
31 11 31 
31 10 45 
31 9 55 
31 8 50 
30 57 40 

30 56 5 

31 2 7 
31 8 16 
31 16 52 



31 12 7 
31 22 54 
31 23 47 
31 31 18 
31 35 15 
31 36 18 



21 59 12 

21 53 

22 8 36 
22 22 
22 8 57 
22 23 15 
22 22 53 
22 22 44 
22 29 56 
22 32 20 
22 34 50 
22 41 40 
22 48 

22 49 27 

23 12 10 
23 2 50 



Notanda. 



30 27 
30 8 10 
30 5 57 
29 53 28 
29 51 58 
29 53 47 
29 52 5 
29 47 37 
29 33 20 
29 11 
28 47 
28 23 19 
27 52 15 



27 39 30 

27 23 40 
27 16 33 
26 39 44 
26 16 10 
26 



220. V. Var. 11° 56' (1820). 

2995 feet. Good sea-mark. ¥. 

|| of the Nedon. j. $'. 

Ancient Taygetus, nearly 8000 feet. 

1. 8 , but $ . _^ 1158, and 4250. ^. 

t. ¥. Var. 11° 50' (1823). 

T & 1. _^ 3450. M. Sanghia, 3990. 

950 feet. T & 1. * . rr. 

1020. 1. _^ to Kaka-vouni, 4000. rr. 

1. $' in Skutari bay. ¥. rr. 

$'. Ancient port of Sparta. _^510. rr. 

|| Eurotas. Var. 12° 15' in 1820. rr. 

*\ ^ to M. Kurkola, 3000. 

T & 1. $. M. Kimatitsa, 1500. 

j& 1. f . $ . _^toM.Krithyna,2600. rr, 

1. Magnetic var. 13° 10' in 1820. 



|| of the Nile. T h !. f. 
Low and 8. y. rr. ¥ . 
|| to Nelson's isle, 8. Inside, $. 
8. /3. In new port, $,. 

New light, 180. T . !. ffl. 
C 99 - 5ft. Lat. by A . By an observation on the 
\ summit 31° 9' 49", but mercury tremulous. 

NecropoKs. Var. 11° 0' ; Dip 57° 45' (1822). 

!, but inside*'. Var. 11°15'(1822). t . rr 

Approach 8. (3(5 Q . f. 

r. Broken grnd. Var. 10° 55' (1822). 

*,but!. Var. 11° 20' (1822). 

-^ to sandy spit. Var. 10° 52' (1822). 

_^ Akabah-el-Sougha'ir, 490. rr. 



m. *. Var 11° 0' in 1822. rr. 
Baratun from Parsetonium. ¥• 
H. Var. 11° 40' (1822). *. rr. 
58 feet. J. [. (Scopuli Tyndarei). 
||s 1, but !. Var. 12° 0' (1822). rr 
T & 1. East point Gulfal Milhr. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



455 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Xotanda. 


Mabmabica. 


O f II 


O t II 




Port Solium, cove 


31 30 


25 10 


m. V. 5 . 'Akabah-el-Kibir, 840. 


Ras al Milk r, or C. Lukkah 


31 53 5 


25 3 30 


c with !. (Ardanaxes Prom.) ¥ . 


Tebruk, Saracenic gate . . . 


32 2 51 


24 3 31 


H. Var. 12° 40' ; Dip 56° 58' ; Int. 240 (1822) . 


Bombah, Seal isle 


32 14 27 
32 22 36 


23 18 50 
23 16 23 


|| Marsa Enharit Khuzitah. ¥ c . <-<-. 
m. Var. 14° 55'; Dip 56° 24' (1822). ^. 


Bombah, Bhurdah isle 


Bombah, Own al Gharami 


32 27 35 


23 12 58 


Ship rock. !. ^. Var. 14° 45' (1822). 


Barcah. 








Eos et Tyn, beach 


32 33 56 


23 11 53 


m, but !. *. -+-. ¥ . 


Dernah, marabut 


32 46 10 


22 40 44 


$'. Var. 13° 39' in 1821. 570 feet. 


Ras Haldl, beach 


32 55 29 


22 10 2 


1. $. *, but near ¥. *~. 


Marsa Sousah, Cothon ... 


32 54 51 


21 56 27 


JL. Var. 14° 27' (1821). Inland, % 


Mas al Razat, or Ras Sem 


32 56 56 


21 38 


j. 1. _^ to Gure'inah, 1575. ¥. $ . 


Cyrene, near small theatre 


32 49. 38 


21 49 5 


2012 feet. Beechey's tent station. 


Point Dohneitah 


32 50 
32 43 7 


21 8 8 
20 54 52 


1. ^ to lower Gureinah range,1050. *. 
1. In the offing $. *. w. 


Dolme'itah, the cothon 


Taukrah, ruins 


32 31 50 


20 32 10 


1. _^ 950 feet. * and f. 


Ben-Ghazi, castle 


32 6 51 


20 2 40 


®. Outside, t. Var. 14° 50' (1821). f. 


Ras Teyonas, sandy point 


31 58 


19 55 57 


1. j. Low, but d . 


Marsa Kharkarah 


38 28 30 
31 2 50 
30 47 32 


19 58 25 

20 13 
19 56 48 


1. $. _^ extensive sand-hills. r<-. 

$, in off-shore winds. !. 

j. lwith!. [. Var. 15° 1' (1822). ^. 


Sh ahican marabut 


Gharah isle 


Isha if ah rod: 


30 36 30 


19 52 45 


j. 50 feet. [ G . ^. 


Marsa Bura'iyah, old fort 


30 27 47 


19 38 10 


% with !. _^:high and white sand-hills. 


Busheifah islet 


30 17 52 


19 11 58 


In summer, $, with !. ¥ . 


Tripoli. 








MuktaJir, boundary pile . . . 


30 17 40 


18 59 50 


The frontier of Tripoli. 


Ras al Ornjah, or Licontah 


30 55 58 


17 58 


Bluff rock to Ben- Jawad, J*"". [,. 


A b u-Saida, landiny-pla ce 


31 15 


17 39 


$ with off-shore winds. ■*•. 


Marsa Zaphran, point ... 


31 12 50 


16 40 52 


S. Approach !. Var. 16° 42' (1821). 


Jerid rocks 


31 26 
31 33 20 


15 54 
15 35 


"y. Outside $ with land winds. 
On a moderate ^ . r<-. 


'Isd, Jebbah ruin 


'Isa, beach station 


31 35 25 

32 1 30 


15 37 56 
15 13 50 


Sand hummocks. Vr. 16° 50" (1821). t'. 
Over the drowned lands. 


Tawarkah village 


Kharrah, or Aardr 


32 9 58 
32 21 26 


15 25 5 
15 16 45 


f. This single tree was here in 1770. 
1. T . Var. 16° 40' in 1816. 


Sidi Buscha'ifa, marabut... 


Misratah, mosque 


32 22 30 


15 9 


Town is inside the point. =f . 


Cape Mtsra tah 


32 25 15 


15 10 24 


T & 1. d . Var. 16° 48' (1816). 


Marsa Zoraik, Youdi, rock 


26 50 


14 48 25 


[I], y. Village nearly 4' east. -<-. 


Marsa ZUiten, marabut ... 


I 5 


14 32 58 


1, l,W.ofOrir cliff. Vr. 16° 30', (1817) 


Marsa Ougrah, Tabia point 


2 50 


14 22 


X. || of thcKhahan, or Kanafa. _^ 350. 


IiEFHSMaGNAj citadel ... 


38 40 


14 15 40 


t in offing. Var. 10° 20'; Dii)55°o' (1817). 



456 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 


Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Notanda. 


Tkipoli. 


O / II 


O / II 






Lebidah, mosque 


32 39 30 


14 11 40 


Village, with olive groves. =f 
X. In summer, $'. r<. 




Marsa Ligatah 


32 40 40 


14 13 




Merkib tower 


32 39 10 


14 9 21 


Commanding station. 
Fortified eminence. 




Selineh, Roman ruin 


32 37 5Q 


14 10 




Emsalatah, mosque 


32 35 30 


13 58 


1250 feet. 




Medina Dugha, the gussar 


32 32 


13 40 


Extensive ruins. 




Garatila Mils, S.W.ex. ... 


30 37 30 


14 8 45 


Peak in distant range. 


.2 


Ghirrza, high tomb 


31 7 17 


14 40 50 


Var. 16° 10' (1817). 
85 feet deep. 


S 


Wadi Zemzem, Roman well 


31 35 


14 38 




Benhoulat tower 


31 28 10 


14 18 15 


Of the lower ages. 

Var. 16° 0' (1817). f. 870 f. 


3 


Beniolid (Beni Walid) castle 


31 45 38 


14 12 10 


O 
-(J 

& 


Wadi Denahr, Orfilli tents 


31 52 10 


14 3 50 


Fertile spot. 




Mhaddra, spring 


32 8 49 


13 47 40 


Var. 17° 5' (1817). 990 f. 


| 


Wadi Tinsiwah 


32 15 


13 43 


Cultivated in patches. 


O 


Weled-bu-Merian pass 


32 21 40 


13 34 22 


(Atilad' ebn Maryun). 


o 


Tarhouna, Melghra rocks 


32 23 15 


13 32 20 


Summit, 920 to 1150 f. 


Rom. well, 2' from Melghra 


32 24 52 


13 31 40 


170 feet deep. 


& 


Saiah grounds 


32 28 37 


13 16 40 


Var. 16° 40' (1817), f. 




Intzarrah (Nasdrd ?) .. 


32 49 25 


13 16 35 


First wells. 




Wahryan Hills, castle 


32 7 50 


13 2 10 


Fine country. ^ 3300. J 




Ras Buswarah, pitch 


32 44 40 


14 1 30 


|| of stream Sidi Abdellata. 




Ras al Hamra, cove ruins 


32 46 29 


13 53 50 


X. Var. 16° 18' (1817). *-. 




Wad al Ramil, marabut. . . 


32 47 30 


13 35 


|| of the Ramil, or Sand river. 




Ras Tajourah, pitch 


32 54 28 


13 21 10. 


1. Town is within the cape, f . 


Tripoli, Consul's villa 


32 54 15 


13 12 28 


Var. 16° 35'; Dip 55° 14' ; Int. 230 (1821). ¥ . 




32 54 47 


13 11 23 


(Setif). Chronometer-sight station. 


Tripoli, Basha's castle ... 


32 53 56 


13 10 58 


HI, but enter !. In the road $'. 




Tripoli vecchio, fort 


32 49 50 


12 26 26 


E. 1. In off-shore winds $. 




Zoarah, marabut 


32 54 46 


12 3 59 


X. Towards the S.E. f. *-. 




Ras al MaJchabez 


33 7 20 


11 42 35 


|| of [X]. Outsider. Var. 16° 20' (1822). 




33 15 57 


11 22 20 


|| large lake H. Outside $'. *-. 
S. P(3 . Inside $'. nh. 




Z era spit-rock 


33 24 


11 21 






33 29 50 


11 10 10 


Boundary of Tripoli in 1816. 




Tunis. 








Ougla, Ras Mamorah 


33 31 40 


11 9 45 


T . 1. Off it, t. *. 




Jerbah, Boukal castle 


33 41 8 


11 21 


II of Al Kantarah ; to fine EE but for bars. rr. 


Jekbah, Castle Zoug 


33 52 54 


10 52 58 


Var. 15° 58'; Dip 55° 0' (1822). tf. 


Jerbah, fort Jelis , 


33 51 57 


10 44 30 


Outside the fishery flats, $'. f . 

r-, $. Hi.wat.3 h 10 m . Rise & fall 5±ft. 


Kashr Natah, ruin 


33 35 40 


10 27 


Khabs, or Kabes, fort 


33 52 58 


10 4 16 


|| Wad al Rif, or Khabs river. 


1. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



457 



Place. 



Latitude. 



Longitude. 



Notanda. 



Tunis. 

Taflamdh anchorage 

Sidi Midhil, landing-place 

i Sfakus, mole-head 

Sidi Masour tower 

Ras Kadija, or Cape Vada 
Karkenah Is. Dazak tower 
Karkenah Is-. Gherba tower 
C. Africa, Mehdiyah castle 

Leptis Parva, ruins of 

Monastir, fort Akdir 

Kuryah isles, outermost . . . 

Susah, the castle flag 

Herklah, minaret 

Jebel Zawan, or Zaghwan 

Hammamat, mosque 

Cape Mahmur, pitch 

Ras Mustafa, Kalybia fort 
Cape Bon, summit tower... 

Sidi Daoud, marabut 

Zembra, or Zowamir 

Tail of Keith's reef 



Skerki shoals 

A dventure Bank 

A dventure Bank 

Tunis bay, Cape Zafran ... 
Mount Ilammam Lynf ... 
Goletta, Halk-al-wad fort 
Tunis, kobbeh, Kabeira ... 

Tunis, Cape Carthage 

Port Farina, arsenal 

Cape Farina, marabut 

Kamla, Piana, or Watiahl. 

Cape Zebib, the pitch 

Kelb, Cane, or Dog rocks... 
Bizertah, or Benzert castle 

Bizertah, Jcbd Ixhk'tl 

Ras Abiad, or Cape Bianco 

A hwat-kebir ( Fratclli j 

Galita, the Gallo rock 

Galita, Sugar-loaf peak ... 

Galitona, centre 

Sorelle rocks, nearly aivash 



34 4 45 
34 17 
34 43 56 

34 48 21 

35 9 58 



34 


4S 


10 


34 38 





35 


30 


26 


35 39 


43 


35 


45 


23 


35 


47 


20 


35 


50 





35 


59 


10 


36 


23 





36 23 27 


36 


20 


58 


36 


49 


57 


37 


4 50 


37 





20 


37 


6 


37 


37 50 





37 


44 53 


37 32 





37 


n 


30 


36 52 





36 


39 


10 


36 


48 25 


36 


45 50 


36 


52 


3 


37 


10 


10 


37 


10 


43 


37 


K) 


48 


37 16 20 


37 21 


12 


37 16 36 


37 


7 


12 


37 


10 


32 


37 18 


14 


37 


33 


7 


37 


30 66 


37 29 


45 


37 2 1 






9 57 
10 1 58 
10 39 50 

10 47 

11 10 
11 15 30 

10 54 16 

11 6 51 
10 51 40 

10 48 53 

11 . 3 30 
10 35 56 
10 30 
10 5 
10 38 15 

10 58 58 

11 8 30 
11 3 36 
10 55 10 

10 48 29 

11 8 

10 45 15 

11 44 40 

12 7 
10 36 10 
10 20 
10 16 40 
10 39 
10 19 29 
10 8 10 
10 14 25 
10 17 56 
10 45 
10 4 15 

9 49 20 
9 36 
9 47 2 
9 22 24 
8 57 38 
8 54 17 
8 52 54 
8 36 30 



$ of vessels for Khabs. Var. 16° 40' (1822) 

W\ inside Zurkenis. _£: to Jebel Thelj. 

m. Var. 17° 10' in 1822. *. 1 

60 ft. S. point of Karkenah ||. !. 

Tower 54 ft. N. pnt. of Karkenah ||. !. 

40 feet. Low and d. 7-. *£ . r-r. 

40 feet. T . f. ^. Var. 17° 0' (1822). 

1. *. Var. 16° 55' in 1822. 

_^: to town of Lamta. f . 

m. Var. 16° 38' in 1822. 

Coniglieri. T . rr. Var. 17° 10' (1822). 

$ off the moles, with !. f. 

1. On an eminence. Var. 17° 0' (1822). 

_-£ s*_ 3900 feet. A good sea-mark. 

V by T . Var 17° 10' (1822). 

-U _^ to Nabal and Mahmur. 

1. At point, (3. Var. 16° 44' (1822). 

1176 feet. T & 1, but t Q . ^. 

12 in Hamar cove. Var. 16° 50' (1816) , 

Landing place. _^ to 1560 ft. 1. S . 

("Adventure $, 20 fins. Blown off at night 
■< (1822). Lat. by run from Maretimo; Lon. 
(.assumed from Captain Durban. 

My $age 1816, 3' W.S.W. of S. Bank. 

My $age in 13 fins., 1816. Brokn.bttm. 

My $age in 8 fins., 1816. 

1. By natives, Eas al Durdas. 1075. 

1217.^toJebelIrsas(Piombo),1720ft. 

||. HI. $'. Var. 17° 40', Dip 56° 48', 1822. 

Marabut on _^ ^_ nr. lndng. place. *~. 

Light 406. _^toSidiBuse'id(ityrsa). *•. 

|| of the Majerdah, & Bushatta. *. 

S in || to isle, with ! ¥ . 

1. Var. 17° 20' in 1822. *. 

|| to Kelb, d . ^ M. Shapta, 2000. 

Brkn.grnd.buttf . * . Var. 18° 10' (1822). ^. 

|| two lakes, t. Var. 18° 0' (1822). 

1750 feet. Mark for inner lake. 

Tower. _^ to 950 feet. ¥ . 

279. T & 1, except N.E. U- 

T & 1. Lo- *„ with !. ^. 

_^^1038.$'.M.Guar(lia,117:U r rJL8 B^ISSS). 

484.Aguglia,37!>. T &1,$ . $ in||8. ^. 

1, therefore very 8. !. 



458 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Place. 



Tunis. 

Ras al Munshihar 

Cape Negro, summit 

Tabarkah, castle 

A Ikaldh, or La Gala 

Algeria. 

Ras al Bufahal, or Rosa... 

Bonah, citadel 

Ras al Hamrah (Mavera) 

Tuhush islet, centre 

Ras Hadid (Cape Ferro) . . . 
Cape Filfillah (Pepper) ... ■ 

Storah, old pier 

Ramacli isle, summit 

Kolah, Hussein chapel 

Ras al Ferjan (Bujaroni) 

Al Imam rock 

Jijeli, minaret 

Ras Jemel (Cape Cavallo) 
Mount Babora, summit . . . 

Bujeyah, castle 

Cape Carbon 

Pisan isle, the well 

Cape Sigli, the pitch 

Mount Jujerah 

Mars-el-Fahm, cove 

Cape Tedles, the pitch 

Dellys, landing-place 

Cape Bengut, summit 

Ras Temedfus (Matifuz) . . . 

Algiers, mole-light 

Algiers, Emperor's castle... 
Ras Akkonada, C. Caxme 
Ras al Hamous, tarfBatal 

Zerzahal, or Chershel 

Ras Nakkus (Cape Tenez) 
Dnis, or Tenez, mmaret ... 
Jeze'ir alHamman (Palomas) 
Ras Jebel Iddis (Cape Ivi) 

Mosta-ghanem, centre 

Marsa Arzaw, fort 

Ras Mishat (Cape Ferrat) 
Aguglia rock 



Latitude. 



37 13 54 

37 5 

36 56 25 

36 51 57 



36 55 15 

36 54 2 

36 57 58 

37 5 56 
37 5 10 
36 54 
36 54 53 

36 58 45 

37 59 
37 6 58 
37 38 
36 50 
36 47 
36 34 
36 45 45 
36 46 43 
36 49 31 
36 53 
36 25 
36 53 15 
36 54 12 
36 55 10 
36 56 
36 48 58 
36 47 31 
36 46 50 
36 49 36 
36 37 50 
36 36 31 
36 32 40 
36 30 
36 25 58 
36 5 45 
35 57 
35 51 36 
35 54 50 
35 54 



Longitude. 



10 
55 20 
42 19 
24 43 



8 13 

7 47 53 

7 49 30 

7 22 30 

7 10 57 

7-6 

6 53 5 

6 43 15 

6 34 55 

6 28 6 

6 15 42 

46 50 

36 30 

30 

8 22 

8 30 

2 15 

48 

11 

25 10 

11 15 

56 25 

54 

13 

4 18 

2 57 

17 

23 54 

10 53 

21 48 

1 19 15 

55 36 

12 40 

6 20 

16 lOw 

21 40w 

26 25w 



Notanda. 



(CapeSerrat). T &1. Var. 17° 58' (1822). 
Coast 1. *•. $ . 

IS. $'. Var. 17° 40' (1822). 375 feet. 
S. Boundary of Tunis & Algeria. f . 



j & 1, except at base. *-. *-. 

398, _^to 2600. *'. Var. 18° 0' (1813). 

j & 1. Guardia new lighths. 466. -r. 

d , with !. $ . nr. 

The islet. T & 1. Inside t, with !. 

Summit, 2500 feet. *. Base 1. 

$'. Var. 17° 50' in 1813. 

j & 1. Height 200 feet. ^. 

500 feet. Var. 18° 0' in 1813. t. 

Nrthmst.oftlie7 Capes. L t . ^ to 2800. f. 

Inbay $ off|| wadal Kabir. _^to 3600.^. 

\M. Var. 18° 37' in 1813. «-. 

j & 1. Summit 1500 feet, ^ . 

6300. Mark for Mansuryah cove. f. 

480 feet. Var. 18° 20' (1813). 

630 ^ . _^ to 4000. T & 1. * . 

1. d in ||. rr> Var. 18° 20' (1823). 

T & 1. S . Var. 18° 17' in 1823. 

7000, summit of inland range. 

$' in the road. j. ¥. 

1. _^ to 3500 feet. *~. 

1300. Summer,*'. Var. 18° 25' (1823). 

1. M. Bubarak 980 feet, _^ to 2000. 

Octagon fort. /3/3 at pitch. 

S. $,. Var. 19° 10' in 1813. 

390 feet. Mark in taking $age. 

-L. $ . _^. to Mount Abu-Zariah. 

Islet at base. 1. _^ to about 3000. 

00 . In land winds $'. 

1. _^ to 3500 ft. Var. 18° 37' (1813). 
A mark for the watering-place. 

80 feet. In ||, 8 . *-. 

1. _^ to 1000 feet. 

Coast-line j & 1. d . 

$■'. New lighthouse, 62 feet. 

1. $ . Summit, upwards of 2000. 

180. I. Pharaoh's finger, by Moors. 



THE AUTHOR'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



459 



Place. 



Algeria. 

Waharan, or Oran 

Marsa Kebir, light 

Ras Harshfah (C. Falcon) 

Habiba isles, largest 

Ras Ishgun (Cape Fegalo) 

Karakal islet 

Mount Noe 

Cape Malonia, pitch 

River Mahala, or Mulwia 

Moeocco. 

Cape Agua, pitch 

Zafrin isles, centre one ... 

Mount Partz, summit 

Melila, the baradero 

Ras-ud-Devr (Tres Forcas) 

Al Boran isle, summit 

Khozamah, or Al Buzema 
Penon de Velez, flagstaff . . . 

Point Pescador, tower 

Tetuan, dogana tower 

Ceuta, Acho flagstaff 

Peregil isle, summit 

Ape's Hill, western summit 

Cape al Kazar, pitch 

Tangier, citadel minaret 

Cape Spartel, the gap 

Djeremias bay, landing-pl. 

Arzila, minaret 

Jebel Habib 

El Ara'ish, citadel 



Latitude. 



35 40 49 
35 44 17 
35 46 10 
35 43 15 
35 34 22 
35 18 30 
35 8 
35 7 50 
35 6 55 



35 9 10 
35 10 50 
35 2 30 
35 20 55 
35 28 10 
35 57 48 
35 16 45 
35 12 20 
35 16 41 
35 37 7 
35 53 58 
35 54 48 
35 53 30 
35 52 50 
35 47 25 
35 47 39 
35 43 
35 28 57 
35 28 
35 12 45 



Longitude. 



39 18w 
41 58w 

48 5w 

1 7 56w 
1 11 Ow 
1 29 52w 

1 42 Ow 

2 8 40w 
2 14 30w 



2 24 25w 
2 26 Ow 
2 36 Ow 
2 54 58w 

2 57 16w 

3 58w 
3 47 36w 



15 39w 
42 Ow 
18 38w 
17 35w 
25 23w 
24 50w 
34 Ow 
48 26w 
5 55 30w 

5 56 18w 

6 45w 

5 43 Ow 

6 8 32w 



Notanda. 



Hill fort. _^ to 1500. 

118, ^ to 1500. m. 

1 but !. _^ to 1800. Station, E. pitch. 

280 feet. Var. 20° 30' in 1813. ^. 

T & I, but islet rocks at base. 

190 feet. || for small craft. ^. 

Nrly. 3000. Mark for capes Noe" &Hone. 

1. ^ to a flank of Atlas. ^ ^ . 3500. 

|| . Boundary Algiers & Morocco. ¥. 



1. $. _^ towards the Atlas range. 

130 feet. West isle, 440. $. ¥ . ^. 

2600. Mark for Restinga, and Zafrin. 

EH. t. Var. 20° 49' (1813). ¥ . 

j & 1, but $ . _^r. ^r. 

68 feet. Var 20° 30' in 1813. ^. 

Fortified rock. || of wad Nekkor. 

Fortified rock, j & 1. ¥ . ^. 

1, 7-. Town beyond. &. 

|| river Tetuan. In W. winds, $'. 

1, except N.W. point. $. 

Under Ape's hill. 1 but l r l . ^-. 

JebelMoussa, or Sierra Bullones, 2200. 

1, except close under. _^:. 

m. Var. 21° 50' in 1810. 

(Ras Shakkah). j & 1. 150 ft. _^. % 

8 . $' in East winds. ¥. 

Near || of Ayasha. Var. 22° 5' (1810). 

2700. Mark for the coast, f. 

II wad al Khos (Lucos). ¥. 



460 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Names of Places. 



Northern Coast of Candia : 

Spada, Cape, the summit 

St. Theodore, island, North point 

Canea, town, the Castle 

Meleca, cape, North point 

Drapano, cape, S.E. of Suda Bay 

Retimo, town, centre 

Retimo, cape 

Santa Croce, cape, North point 

Candia, principal minaret 

Standia islet, North summit 

Paximada, islet, the summit 

Ovo rock, summit 

Maglia point 

San Giovanni cape, summit 

Spinalonga port, fort 

Sitia, cape 

Yanis islands, summit of Cosua, northern islet 

East End op Candia : 

Sidera cape, summit 

Lassa islet, S.E. point 

Paleo-Castro, ruins 

Salomone cape, East point 

Yala cape 

South Coast of Candia : 

Christiana islets (Koupho-nisi), the southernmost ... 

Calderoni islets (Goeduro-nisi), N.E. pt. of westernmst. 

Matala, cape 

Paximadi islets, summit of the largest 

St. John, cape (Krio) 

Western mountain of Candia 

Mount Ida 

Eastern mountain of Candia 

Gozzo, great, of Candia, West point 

Gozzo, small, of Candia, middle 

St. John, cape, Candia 

Sordi, middle of isle, Candia 

Buso cape, Candia 

Garabusa islet, Candia 

Islands : 

Caravi rock, summit 

Falconera, summit of the island 

Ananas rocks, the highest 



Latitudes 
North. 


o / // 


35 40 30 


35 31 20 


35 28 40 


35 35 5 


35 27 10 


35 22 17 


35 25 52 


35 25 54 


35 21 00 


35 27 20 


35 26 40 


35 37 50 


35 19 15 


35 19 10 


35 17 00 


35 14 20 


35 22 00 


35 17 40 


35 15 25 


35 10 10 


35 09 13 


35 03 00 


34 53 05 


34 52 35 


34 55 05 


34 59 40 


35 15 35 


35 22 48 


35 13 19 


35 06 46 


34 52 00 


34 56 15 


35 27 45 


35 34 20 


35 36 38 


35 35 00 


36 46 25 


36 50 40 


36 32 45 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



461 



Names of Places. 



Islands : 

Milo, summit of Mount St. Ella 

Paximado islet, S.W. ofMilo 

Anti-Milo, summit 

Pettini rocks, few feet above water, S.E. of Milo 

Argentiera 

St. Istada, island, anchorage of Argentiera 

Polino, highest point of the island 

Siphanto, highest point of the island 

Policandro, highest point of the island 

Miconi, summit of the highest western mountain 

Anti-Paro, highest point of the islet 

Strongilo, highest point of the islet 

Paros, summit of Mount St. Ella 

Naxia, summit of Mount Jupiter 

Raclia, summit of islet 

Karo, summit of islet 

Amorgo-Poulo islet, summit . 

Nios, highest summit 

Sikyno, highest summit 

Santorin, highest summit 

Christiani, summit of the highest islet 

Anaphi, summit of the island 

Anaphi-Poulo, summit of the largest islet 

Ponticusa, summit 

Fidulce island, South point 

Sramphalia, summit of Monte Veglia 

Miconi, summit of Mount St. Elias 

Tino, summit 

Andros, summit 

Syra, summit 

Jura, summit — (better Ghiour) 

Zea, summit of Mount St. Elias 

Piperi, summit of the rock 

Hydra, summit 

Serpho-Poulo, summit 

S. Giorgio d Arbora, summit 

Egina, summit 

Greece : 

Athens, monument of Philopappus 

Pieraeus, tomb of Themistocles 

Corinth, castle 

Colonna, cape — temple of Sunium 



Latitudes 
North. 


Longitudes 
East. 


o / n 


O 1 II 


36 40 27 


24 23 19 


36 37 40 


24 19 10 


36 47 42 


24'14 38 


36 38 00 


24 35 35 


36 49 20 


24 33 28 


36 46 16 


24 36 00 


36 46 10 


24 39 02 


36 58 04 


24 42 40 


36 37 03 


24 55 10 


37 29 15 


25 21 27 


36 59 39 


25 03 32 


36 56 40 


24 58 20 


37 02 46 


25 11 23 


37 01 50 


25 31 09 


36 49 28 


25 28 03 


36 53 29 


25 39 56 


36 36 54 


25 42 39 


36 42 44 


25 20 54 


36 39 51 


25 06 53 


36 20 52 


25 28 26 


36 14 40 


25 12 50 


36 22 21 


25 47 14 


36 16 00 


25 51 00 


36 31 48 


26 17 08 


36 31 25 


26 09 45 


36 32 12 


26 19 40 


37 29 06 


25 21 18 


37 35 01 


25 14 21 


37 50 08 


24 50 27 


37 28 56 


24 55 33 


37 36 36 


24 43 18 


37 37 18 


24 21 45 


37 18 15 


24 31 53 


37 19 58 


23 28 44 


37 15 17 


24 36 00 


37 28 14 


23 55 47 


37 42 05 


23 29 53 


37 57 57 


23 43 24 


37 55 51 


23 37 44 


37 53 37 


22 52 10 


37 39 12 


24 01 39 



462 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Names of Places. 



Latitudes 
North. 


37 39 


06 


37 52 51 


38 10 


47 


37 44 


23 


37 45 





38 03 36 


38 09 59 


38 49 


46 


38 37 43 


39 24 





39 08 


25 


39 06 


58 


39 01 


59 


39 09 


42 


39 10 


11 


39 26 17 


39 47 53 


40 04 32 


39 56 53 


40 19 59 


40 37 


03 


39 31 


00 


39 53 


42 


40 10 


36 


40 26 57 


41 08 


31 


41 01 


44 


41 00 


12 


41 14 


10 


41 15 


30 


41 19 


20 


41 25 


40 


41 29 55 


41 33 05 


41 36 45 


41 39 


00 


41 45 


30 


41 48 


45 


41 52 35 



Greece : 

Provengale, summit of islet 

Raphti, port, summit of islet 

Marathon, cape 

Mandri, port, sugar-loaf 

Makronisi, or Long island, northern summit 

Negropont, St. Ella d'Oro, highest summit 

•Kaloyeri, centre of the rock 

Skyro, San Giorgio, summit of Mount Cochilo 

Negropont, Mount Delphi 

Jura-nisi, or Devil's island 

Skopelo, Mount Delphos 

Trikeri, mount, gulf of Volo .... .. 

Fetio, port, tower entering gulf of Volo 

Trikeri, old, East side of gulf of Yolo 

Halata islet, East side of gulf of Volo 

Pelion, mount 

Ossa, mount 

Olympus, mount 

Turkey in Europe : 

Drepano, cape, or Trapano, summit 

Mulliani, summit of the islet in the gulf of Mte. Santo 

Limpiada, summit, in Contessa gulf 

Strati or Strachi, St., summit of islet 

Lemnos, summit of Mount Therma 

Imbros, summit of the island 

Samothrace, summit 

Tarapia, French palace, N.E. terrace 

Constantinople, palace of France at Pera 

Constantinople, dome of St. Sophia 

Western Shores of the Black Sea: 

Pharos of Europe 

Kilios, castle 

Kara-Bourou, cape , 

Kaliondjik 

Malhatrah, cape 

Taliangieri 

Mediah, town 

Turkey in Europe, continued: 

Serves, cape 

Sandal Limani, point 

Ayo-Paoli, river 

Tersanah, village 



CAPT. GAUTTLER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



463 



Xames of Places. 



Turkey in Europe, continued: 

Kouri, cape, East of Inada anchorage 

Resveh, cape 

Babiah, mount , 

Ahteboli, town , 

Vassicos, village 

Zaitan, cape , 

Bagral-Altoun, cape 

St. John's isle, entrance of Bourghaz gulf 

Bourghaz town, minaret , 

Ahiouli island 

Mesembria, town 

EmeneTi, cape .'.. 

Djoski, village 

KLara-Bouroun, cape 

Ak-Bouroun, cape 

Ilidjah-Varni, cape 

Galata, cape 

Varna, great Eastern tower 

Soughanlik, cape, islet 

Batouvah, cape 

Baldjik, town and port 

Kavarna, town and port 

Calagriah cape, ruins 

Chabler-Saghi, cape and old pharos 

Khas-Ehas, mouth of Danube 

SoulineTi, mouth of Danube, light 

Russia : 

Isle of Serpents, summit 

Dniester, N.W. mouth 

Fontan, cape and light 

Fountain point 

Odessa, lazaret 

Odessa, highest dome 

Odessa, theatre 

Odessa, Custom-house 

Odessa, N.E. point of the roadstead 

Be're'zan islet, South bastion 

Adji Hassan, cape 

Be're'zan, mouth of the river 

Kinbourn, N.W. sandy point 

Kinbourn, barracks 

Balise, North point of Tendra island 



Latitudes 
Xorth. 



Longitude 
East. 



52 43 
56 40 
04 40 

04 30 
07 40 
17 55 

24 45 

25 54 
29 20 
32 10 
39 15 
41 40 
49 55 
55 00 
58 20 

05 20 
10 10 

12 15 

13 25 
19 15 

23 15 

24 00 

21 25 

32 10 
52 45 
10 15 

15 00 
10 00 

22 20 

26 50 

28 54 

29 10 
29 15 
29 50 

33 25 
35 34 
35 55 
37 40 
35 00 
33 20 
21 40 



28 03 02 
28 02 55 
27 50 50 
27 59 20 
27 51 50 
27 47 40 
27 44 50 
27 41 27 
27 28 05 
27 38 45 
27 44 25 
27 53 35 
27 53 20 
27 54 40 
27 54 25 
27 55 50 
27 58 20 

27 56 15 

28 02 05 
28 05 05 
28 10 10 
28 22 05 
28 27 10 

28 35 20 

29 36 30 

29 40 55 

30 11 00 
30 33 35 
30 43 40 
30 44 30 
30 43 27 
30 41 45 
30 42 20 
30 41 25 

30 47 40 

31 22 47 
31 19 20 
31 23 30 
:;i 26 55 
31 29 55 
31 29 25 



464 



CAPT. GAUTTLER'S MAEITIME POSITIONS. 



Names of Places. 



Latitudes 
North. 



Longitudes 
East. 



Russia : 

Fort on low point South of Otchakof 

Otchakof, the dome 

Ceimea : 

Karamnoune, cape 

Tarkhan, cape and light 

Kazelof, low S.W. point, four miles distant , 

Kazelof, principal dome , 

Krasnoiars, village 

Zamrouk, village 

Alma, river 

Loukoul, cape 

Katcha, cape 

Belbek, river 

Outchquikal, point 

Sevastopol, highest house of the Lazaret 

Sevastopol, dome of hospital 

Sevastopol, steeple of St. Nicholas 

Chersonese lighthouse 

Fiolente, cape 

St. George, village 

Balaklava, entrance of the port 

A'ia, summit of the cape 

Saritche, cape 

Kerkines, cape 

A'itodor, cape 

Nikita, point 

Tckandirdag, mount, S.W. point of the table. 

Lioudag, cape, South point 

Lioudag, summit 

Alouchti, town 

Limani, cape 

Soudak, village 

Alcessan, cape 

Meganome, cape 

Karadof, cape 

Kiatlama cape, the rock 

Caffa, East point of Lazaret 

Caffa, town-house 

Theodosia, cape 

Tchaouda, cape 

Jeltchankaleli, rock 

Karak, cape 



46 35 50 
46 36 25 

45 25 35 
45 21 35 
45 06 55 
45 09 05 
45 00 45 
44 54 45 
44 50 50 
44 50 45 
44 46 15 
44 39 50 
44 37 55 
44 35 58 
44 34 55 
44 35 25 
44 34 25 
44 29 15 
44 29 30 
44 28 55 
44 24 40 
44 22 00 
44 22 05 
44 23 30 
44 29 25 
44 44 40 
44 32 10 
44 33 05 
44 41 00 
44 48 05 
44 50 10 
44 49 45 
44 46 40 
44 53 10 

44 54 35 

45 01 24 
45 01 37 
45 00 43 

44 59 54 

45 01 31 
45 02 25 



31 31 00 

31 30 55 

32 31 05 

32 31 20 

33 14 10 
33 19 45 
33 37 25 
33 36 40 
33 32 30 
33 32 15 
33 29 40 
33 32 05 
33 29 25 
33 29 11 
33 31 20 
33 31 35 
33 20 50 
33 27 35 
33 29 05 
33 34 40 
33 39 10 
S3 44 20 

33 56 35 

34 05 10 
34 13 45 
34 18 20 
34 19 50 
34 11 20 
34 26 00 
34 56 25 

34 59 35 

35 00 10 
35 06 40 
35 15 10 
35 23 05 
35 24 47 
35 23 33 
35 26 15 

35 52 30 

36 16 24 
36 18 04 



CAPT. GAUTTEER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



465 



Names of Places. 



Crimea : 

Takli, cape 

Ak-Bouroun, tumulus on the point 

Kertch, town 

JenikaleTi, town 

Kouban : 

Taman, town 

Taman, cape, islet off. 

Kiheli, cape 

Kouban, river, low point 

Coast of the Abases : 

Anapa, West part of the town 

Isussup, cape, peninsula 10 miles S.S.E. of Anapa 

Sougoujak, S.W. entrance of the bay 

Guelinjik, mid-entrance to the port 

Pchiat, East point of entrance 

Voulan, mid-entrance 

Kodos, West point 

Soubachi, river 

Vardan, N. W. point of entrance 

Peak of the Caucasus 

Mama'i, river , . 

Soutchali, N.W. point 

Zengui, cape 

Ardler, cape 

Kentchili, river 

Pitsiounta, low point, 2 miles S.W. of 

Pitsiounta, end of the gulf 

Soukoum-Kaleh, N.E. bastion 

Soukoum village, or ruins of Dandar 

Mingrelia : 

Kodor, mouth of the river 

Iskouria, cape 

Jeniche'ri, village 

Isiret, cape and river 

Ilori, fort 

Koule, redoubt 

Coast of the Lazes: 

Phase, new fort on the island 

Tckehelil, village and redoubt 

Tchourouk, town 

Sikindsi, cape 

Me'andjour, tower 



Latitudes 
North. 


Longitudes 
East. 


O / M 


o 


/ H 


45 04 30 


36 27 36 


45 19 05 


36 


29 45 


45 21 29 


36 


28 54 


45 21 12 


36 


36 16 


45 13 40 


36 


43 50 


45 09 10 


36 37 35 


45 06 52 


36 


43 55 


45 05 30 


36 


54 40 


44 54 21 


37 


16 04 


44 45 15 


37 22 40 


44 39 00 


37 46 40 


44 31 00 


38 07 20 


44 22 20 


38 


19 35 


44 20 25 


38 31 00 


44 16 55 


38 


42 20 


44 09 25 


38 


59 45 


44 06 15 


39 


02 05 


43 56 30 


39 


51 35 


43 53 25 


39 


18 45 


43 42 35 


39 


33 00 


43 30 40 


39 


44 40 


43 22 55 


39 


56 20 


43 20 35 


40 


10 20 


43 08 20 


40 


19 40 


43 09 45 


40 21 50 


42 59 20 


41 


00 13 


42 58 10 


41 


02 35 


42 50 34 


41 


04 20 


42 47 00 


41 


10 00 


42 43 50 


41 


29 30 


42 27 00 


41 


30 24 


42 24 20 


41 


32 20 


42 14 12 


41 


38 35 


42 07 30 


41 


40 00 


41 54 40 


41 


45 40 


41 49 15 


41 


46 20 


41 46 10 


41 


43 40 


41 43 40 


41 


42 35 



II II 



466 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Names of Places. 



Anatolia : 

Batoum, town 

Batoum, tower on the cape 

G-ounieli, town 

GounieTi, cape 

Makria, town 

Khoppa, village 

Arkava, town 

Yitze*, village 

Boulep, village 

Laros, fort 

Kemer, cape 

Mapavreh, village 

BizeTi, town 

Foudji, cape 

Mahane", village 

Komourkiando, village 

HeVaclia, cape 

Falcos, village .. 

Trebizonde, French Consulate, East of the town 

Platana, village 

Akche'-Kale'h, village 

Ioroz, cape 

Skie'fie', town 

Koureleli, cape .. 

HeleTiou, village 

Kara-Bouroun, cape 

Tirboli, town 

Espey, village 

Zephira, cape 

Kessap, village 

Arhentias, island 

Kdr^soun, town 

Aio- Vassil, village and cape 

Aio- Vassili, cape 

Postipey, cape 

Yona, cape 

Yason, cape 

Fatsah, town 

Ouni^h, town 

St. Nichola, point 

Therme", mouth of river 

Therme", cape 



Latitudes 
North. 


o 


t a 


41 


38 40 


41 


40 00 


41 


36 00 


41 


35 15 


41 


30 15 


41 24 50 


41 


23 00 


41 


17 25 


41 


12 25 


41 


10 30 


41 


09 20 


41 


06 20 


41 


02 25 


41 


02 30 


40 56 10 


40 


55 45 


40 58 05 


40 57 00 


41 


01 00 


41 


02 05 


41 


05 30 


41 


06 55 


41 


04 30 


41 


05 45 


41 


03 30 


41 


03 40 


41 


01 00 


40 57 50 


40 59 30 


40 56 30 


40 57 35 


40 57 10 


40 58 35 


41 


00 40 


41 


01 40 


41 


07 05 


41 


08 15 


41 


02 45 


41 


09 50 


41 


10 30 


41 


13 15 


41 


18 30 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



467 



Barnes of Places. 



Latitudes 
North. 



Longitudes 
East. 



Anatolia : 

Kiatli-Bassi, cape 

Tcherchembeli, cape 

Samsoun, town 

Samsoun, cape 

Kizil-Irmack, point 

Aladjani, village 

Guerzeli, town 

Sinope town, the castle 

Boz-depeli, cape 

Pachi, cape 

IndgeTi, cape 

KerempeTi, cape 

Kidros, village 

Sagra, mountain 

Delikli-Chili, viUage 

Amasserah, cape, 0>\ miles N.E 

Amasserah, summit of peninsula 

Bartin, village 

Filiouz, village on peninsula 

Guelimili, cape 

Baba, cape 

Heraclea, light 

Kara river, the mouth 

Sakaria river, mouth 

Melin town 

Kefken, centre of island 

Kerpen, cape 

Chili, tower 

Cianee of Asia, northern 

Pharos of Asia 

Eastern Archipelago : 

Tenedos, summit of Mount St. Elias 

Metelin, summit of Mount Ordymnus 

Metelin, summit of Mount Olympus 

Ipsera, summit of Mount St. Elias 

Scio, summit of St. Elias, at North end 

Hourlac islet, summit, gulf of Smyrna 

Carabourno, mount, entrance of Smyrna gulf 

Samos, summit of Mount Querki 

Nicaria, highest summit 

Nicaria, West summit 



H H 2 



41 21 20 
41 22 35 
41 20 31 
41 12 30 
41 45 20 
41 38 40 

41 48 45 

42 02 30 
42 03 00 
42 06 40 
42 07 57 
42 02 01 
41 56 09 
41 48 01 
41 49 19 
41 48 50 
41 45 27 
41 33 52 
41 34 10 
41 32 27 
41 20 54 
41 17 08 
41 06 55 
41 09 24 
41 06 54 
41 14 15 
41 13 36 
41 10 48 
41 14 20 
41 13 00 



50 14 
15 00 
04 17 
35 38 
33 42 
26 32 
31 33 
43 46 
31 15 
31 09 



36 51 45 
36 39 20 
36 21 52 
36 22 05 
35 57 48 

35 39 20 

36 13 10 
35 09 50 
35 13 10 
35 01 00 
34 56 30 
33 19 10 
32 59 24 
32 50 20 
32 38 26 
32 27 00 
32 21 20 
32 14 04 
32 02 15 
31 53 36 
31 26 28 
31 24 52 
30 56 20 

30 39 10 

31 07 00 
30 17 02 
30 16 10 
29 36 52 
29 15 00 
29 09 20 



26 03 50 

25 57 42 

26 22 13 

25 36 04 

26 01 00 
26 47 01 
26 31 38 
26 38 26 
26 02 55 
26 02 43 



468 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Names of Places. 



Latitudes 
North. 



Eastern Archipelago: 

Nicaria, East summit 

Miletus point, or Cape Tree 

Patmos, summit of the island 

Bove rock, middle 

Lero islet, summit of Mount Clido 

Zinaro, summit 

Cos, or Stancho, summit of Monte Cristo 

Crio, summit of the cape 

Nicero, summit of the island 

Madonna, summit of the island 

Piscopi, summit of the island 

Safrania, summit of the largest 

Placa, summit of the island 

San Giovanni, summit of the island 

Plana island, summit 

Adelphi or Fratelli islets, largest southernmost 

Stazida island, middle 

Caxo islet, South point 

Scarpanto, North point 

Scarpanto, South point 

Scarpanto-poulo, North point 

Yah, S.E. of Piscopi, summit 

Crio, cape on the main, S.W. point 

Carki, summit of island 

Clalavalda, West point of Rhodes 

Limonia island, summit , 

Simia island, West point 

Diamond, summit of Simia 

St. Catherine's island, South of Rhodes 

St. George's Cape, N.W. point of Rhodes 

Volno, cape 

A.delphi, or Three Brothers, 4ft.abv.water, S.ofRhodes 

Chevalier, cape 

Citadel of Rhodes town, Cape St. John 

Barbanicolo, summit of island 

Rhodes town, Mill point 

Rhodes town, end of mole, North of light 

Marmara cape, South point of entrance to the port 
Ginacri cape, West point of entrance to Gulf of Macri 

Macri gulf, S.E. point 

Baba island, summit 

Caraguachi island, entrance of Porto Fisquo 





o / „ 


O / ff 




37 36 26 


26 17 07 




37 21 11 


27 13 13 




37 17 02 


26 35 19 




37 14 24 


25 56 25 




37 10 44 


26 51 22 




36 58 42 


26 17 38 




36 49 56 


27 14 09 




36 44 05 


27 34 50 




36 35 16 


27 11 02 




36 30 31 


26 57 28 




36 26 22 


27 20 53 




36 25 11 


26 38 24 




36 04 11 


26 25 14 




36 20 51 


26 41 43 




35 51 25 


26 15 30 




35 49 40 


26 29 00 




35 53 20 


26 51 00 




35 18 20 


26 52 40 




35 50 30 


27 11 30 




35 23 30 


27 13 00 




35 54 20 


27 12 30 




36 22 15 


27 28 55 




36 39 20 


27 25 00 




36 13 20 


27 35 05 




36 07 35 


27 41 20 




36 17 25 


27 43 05 




36 34 40 


27 47 15 




36 34 40 


27 52 05 




35 52 00 


27 45 35 




36 22 50 


27 56 40 




36 34 15 


27 57 55 


3 


35 50 20 


27 55 15 




36 34 10 


28 02 20 




36 30 50 


28 04 05 




36 36 15 


28 07 20 




36 27 35 


28 12 05 




36 26 53 


28 13 33 




36 42 40 


28 16 55 




36 34 25 


28 48 55 




36 32 10 


28 58 25 




36 38 40 


28 38 35 




36 41 50 


28 26 45 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



469 



Karnes of Places. 



Latitudes 
North. 


Longitudes 
East. 


O 1 11 


O / II 


36 20 00 


29 11 30 


36 06 35 


29 35 00 


36 10 25 


29 54 30 


36 10 30 


30 26 15 


36 12 45 


30 25 55 


36 40 00 


31 37 50 


36 31 20 


32 00 40 


36 10 55 


32 21 35 


36 00 50 


32 50 15 


35 06 20 


32 16 35 


35 23 50 


32 57 10 


35 19 30 


33 09 05 


35 19 30 


33 23 20 


35 41 40 


34 37 30 


35 07 40 


33 59 10 


34 57 05 


34 06 30 


34 55 13 


33 39 37 


34 54 31 


33 40 20 


34 49 55 


33 38 20 


34 41 15 


33 03 50 


34 32 50 


33 01 40 


34 39 20 


32 40 20 


34 47 20 


32 26 25 


36 07 30 


33 43 45 


36 10 30 


33 47 20 


36 12 45 


33 57 40 


36 31 35 


34 18 50 


36 46 30 


34 46 50 


36 29 45 


35 23 15 


36 16 00 


35 49 35 


35 52 10 


35 51 00 


35 30 30 


35 48 00 


35 19 45 


35 55 55 


35 09 00 


35 56 30 


34 50 25 


35 51 55 


34 26 22 


35 51 33 


34 19 30 


35 42 30 


33 49 45 


35 28 05 


33 34 05 


35 23 45 



Caramania : 

Seven Capes, South point, Caramania 

Red Castle island, South point 

Cacamo isle, East point 

Khelidonia, islet off the cape, South point 

Khelidonia, cape 

Karabournou, point 

Alaya nova 

Ce'htibournou, cape 

Anamouzi-vecchio, South point of Caramania 

Cyprus : 

Salizano, cape 

Cormachiti, cape 

Cerina, peak 

Cerina, town 

St. Andrew, cape 

Famagosta, town 

Grego, cape 

Larnaca town, French Consul' s garden 

Larnaca, N. E. point of the town, Mr. Rey's house 

Chiti cape, tower 

Limasol, town 

Gatto cape, S.E. point 

Bianco, cape 

Paphos, town 

Caramania, completed : 

Cavalier cape, South point of the peninsula 

Provencale island, South point 

Bagascia tongue, South point 

Lamas, town at the mouth of the 

Tarsus town, beach 

Malo, cape, S.W. point 

Syria : 

Canzir cape, Syria 

Possidi, cape 

Lataquie', town 

Caria, or Gibili, town 

La Marca, town 

Tortosa, island and town 

Tripoli town, French Consulate, North of castle ... 

Madone, cape 

Barut, cape 

Se'ide, town 



470 



CAPT. GAUTTIER'S MARITIME POSITIONS. 



Names of Places. 



Steia : 

Sour, or ancient Tyre . . . 

Bianco, cape 

St. Jean dAcre, town... 

Carmel, cape 

Cesare'a, ruins 

Jaffa, town 

Ascalon, ruins 

El-Arish, fort 

Egypt : 

Kacazo'im, cape, Egypt 

Aboukir, tower 

Alexandria, light-house 



Latitudes 
North. 



33 17 00 
33 05 10 
32 54 35 
32 51 10 
32 32 25 
32 03 25 
31 39 00 
31 05 30 

31 10 40 
31 20 35 
31 12 53 



Longitudes 
East. 



35 14 40 
35 07 35 
35 06 25 
34 59 40 
34 54 50 
34 46 15 
34 33 00 
33 48 30 

33 03 30 
30 06 20 
29 54 50 



APPENDIX. 



473 



THE OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 

FROM the great political changes, and increased intercourse among 
nations in late years, it is difficult to recollect how much the coast of 
Barbaiy was dreaded by seamen and sojourners some forty years ago; 
insomuch that travellers on its shores were all but unknown. When 
the general peace of 1815 took place, my attention was strongly drawn 
to that quarter ; and I had frequent conferences with Sir C. V. Penrose — 
my commander-in-chief — on the subject. One of my first consultations 
with that excellent admiral, was upon the feasibility of examining the 
ports, and numerous ancient relics of Tunis; for it was impossible to be 
at work in this sea without imbibing an antiquarian taste, and my recent 
operations in Sicily had almost brought me to the shores of Carthage. 
But being still in the borrowed Sicilian gun-boat, my movements could 
naturally be only on a very confined scale. 

While in a state of suspense on these matters, Lord Exmouth made 
his memorable visit to the Barbary States, in the spring of 1816, for the 
abolition of Christian slavery ; on hearing which, I immediately went to 
Valetta, and conferred with Sir Charles on the subject, hinting that such 
a vessel as mine — for with a light draught of water she mounted a 68- 
pounder carronade, and two Congreve rocket ladders — might be welcome 
to his lordship. My wishes were at once strengthened by the warm 
recommendations of the Admiral, insomuch that I started off that same 
evening, and quickly joined the squadron in Tunis Bay, being there most 
kindly received by Lord Exmouth. Here matters being amicably ad- 
j ustcd with the Bey, as they had just been with the Dey of Algiers, we 
sailed for Tripoli, where affairs were also satisfactorily settled; and this 
beautifully moral cruise for ever quashed the odious white slavery which 
had been so long and so shamefully submitted to. 

On the terms being ratified, I accompanied Lord Exmouth when he 
made his take-leave visit to the Bashaw of Tripoli, and prevailed on him 
to make a formal request — which in this instance almost amounted to a 
condition — for me to be permitted to visit Lebida after the departure of 
the squadron, there to examine some ancient architectural relics, which 
the Bashaw, at the instance of our Consul-general, Colonel Warrington, 
had recently offered for the acceptance of our Prince Regent. This 



474 APPENDIX. 

enabled me to enter upon a long-meditated field of inquiry ; and the con- 
sequences were so successful as to enlarge our geographical knowledge, 
and to lead to the journeys of Eitchie and Lyon — Oudney, Denham, and 
Clapperton — and, lastly, of Richardson, Overweg, Barth, and Yogel. 

It was therefore thought, that the circumstances which opened so 
important a highway might be added as an Appendix to this work ; and 
last August (1853), having requested permission to consult the original 
letters in the archives of the Admiralty, my wishes were so considerately 
met, that the reader is presented with nearly all the correspondence 
relating to the steps which led to the above-mentioned expeditions. 
To these papers is added the copy of a letter to Lord Melville, which was 
written two or three years afterwards • which, though it did not relate 
to the question then most prominent, was meant to procure the exami- 
nation of the Syrtis Major and the Cyrenaica. {See page 376.) 

In these documents the orthography of the names might now be 
improved, for it was very difficult, with my imperfect knowledge of 
Arabic, to spell from the enunciation of the natives ; but it is deemed 
best to give the copies as they were written on the spot. They thus show 
the impression at the time; and though they exhibit conclusions which 
mere hearsay led us to adopt, even when the responses to set questions 
were obtained with considerable difficulty, still they comprise the only 
information then obtainable in that quarter. Here follow the letters in 

chronological order : — 

Satellite, at Malta, May 21, 1816. 
Sir, — I request you to inform their Lordships that I had recommended to Captain 
Smyth (on the surveying duty) to proceed to Tunis and Tripoli, to take advantage of 
Lord Exmouth's countenance and presence ; and, at the same time, having heard that 
the Bey of Tripoli had offered the antiquities of Lebida to H.R.H. the Prince 
Regent, and the communication had been made to H.M. Government on the subject, I 
directed his inquiries to them, and feel it my duty to forward a copy of the statement 
made to me by Captain Smyth, to their Lordships, in justice to the merit of that officer ; 
and to state to their Lordships, in case application is made to remove any part of the 
said antiquities, that it must be done in summer, as there is anchorage only on the open 
coast, except for vessels of small burden. — I have the honour, &c., 

C. V. Penrose, Rear-Admiral. 
John Wilson CroJcer, Esq. 
&c. &c. &c. 

The Enclosure. 

Marsamuscetto, May 14, 1816. 
Sir, — I have to report my arrival in this harbour from Tripoli, which place I left 
on the morning of the 10th inst., having taken on board two Christian slaves — Bruno 
Spagnolo and Marco Polto, who were brought from Zoaro, and a deserter from H.M. 
ship Myrmidon — Robert Lee, who had been picked up in the country, since the de- 
parture of the squadron under Lord Exmouth.* By several observations which I 



* The Bashaw declining to let him embrace Mahomedanism, on the ground that a 
bad Christian would never make a good Turk. 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 475 

made, the whole coast of this Regency is laid down in the charts several miles too far 
to the eastward ; for the martello tower in Tripoli is in latitude 32° 53' 45" north, and 
longitude 13° & 25", by a good chronometric run from Tunis, compared with some 
angular lunar distances. 

I took the opportunity of my introduction to the Bashaw, by Lord Exmouth, to 
request permission to visit the ruins of Lebida, agreeably to your instructions, and 
found him extremely ready to grant every assistance I might require, as in addition to 
the camels, mules, and dragomen, he sent two of his own chiaus or couriers, without 
whom it would be very difficult to procure an article of subsistence from the Arabs. 

After a journey of about seventy miles, partly over a desert and partly over a fine 
country, the approach to Lebida is indicated for several miles to the W.N.W. of it, by 
the many remains of ancient edifices. 

The city formerly called Ptolemaea,* Leptis, and Lepida, with its immediate suburb, 
occupies a space of about 8000 yards, the principal part of which is covered with a 
fine light sand, which drifting with the wind along the beach, has been arrested in its 
progress by the ruins, and has doubtlessly been the means of preserving many fine 
specimens of art, if a judgment can be formed by the beautiful scattered capitals, 
cornices, and fragments of arabesque sculpture, which are lying in every direction. The 
materials are also the richest I have seen in such extensive quantity, for it appears to 
have been a profuse mass of porphyry, granitic porphyry, oriental granite, and gial- 
antique, and marbles of every description. Most of the walls, gates, and public build- 
ings were composed of massy blocks of freestone and breccia, in layers without cement ; 
and the temples have been executed in a style of the utmost grandeur, adorned with 
immense columns, all of a single piece in the shaft, and were generally of the Ionic or 
Corinthian orders ; but I saw also several blocks of architrave ornamented with tri- 
glyphs, and two or three cyathiform capitals, which led me to suppose that a Doric 
temple of earlier date than the others had been erected here ; and, on a triple plinth 
near them, I observed what I deemed to have been a species of socle used in those 
structures, as the base of a Doric column, part of the walls of a cella to the same may 
also be distinguished, of which the columns forming the peristyle stood outside. 

The city was encompassed by strong walls of solid masonry, ornamented with mag- 
nificent gates and spacious porticoes. It abounded with splendid public edifices, the 
remains of which are so numerous, that without excavation there may be immediately 
removed upwards of thirty complete shafts of columns, in single blocks of variegated 
marble, from 18 to 20 inches diameter, four of 26 inches, and three of the immense 
circumference of 11| feet. Of oriental granite may be obtained upwards of twenty 
shafts, from 14 to 18 inches diameter, and there are about eighteen of porphyry, from 
22 to 30 inches, exclusive of large blocks of entablature, cornice, and architrave. It 
was divided from its principal suburb to the east, by a river, the mouth of which formed 
a spacious basin, and was the harbour. This was defended at the narrow entrance by 
two stout fortifications, which are in considerable preservation, and a small rivulet oc- 
cupies the bed of the river, and falls into the sea between them. 

At a little more than a mile and a half to the westward of these ruins, and about 
half a mile from the beach, are situated the two small villages now called Lebida, in- 
habited by a race of inoffensive and civil Moors, who attend to the cultivation of the 
adjacent country, and the rearing of cattle, sheep, and goats.f On the beach is a small 



* I was here misled by a local antiquary. 
+ A great part of this plain is laid out in fields of corn, durrah, pulse, &c, inter- 
spersed with groves of olive, pomegranate, and date trees, among which are a few 
vineyards ; but a great portion of the produce is annually destroyed by the gundy nit, 
and a species of jerboa (probably the fivg S'iitovq of Cyrenian coins), which greatly infest 
all the grounds, yet no means are used to destroy them. 



476 APPENDIX. 

port, open to the S.E. winds, formed by several projecting rocks, where a couple oi 
transports, and the lighters requisite to be employed in embarking the columns, might 
be secure. From this bay to the entrance of the river, the beach is shallow ; but at 
the ruins of the westernmost fortress, I imagine those weighty masses might be removed, 
provided the necessary machinery and tackles were at hand. The whole coast would 
offer a summer anchorage. 

But it is not so much the columns that I imagine the value of this present to con- 
sist in, as in the fine field offered for a gratifying and productive system of excavation ; 
for temples constructed with such costly materials must also have been enriched with 
statues and bas-reliefs. I therefore, on my return to Tripoli, mentioned to the Bashaw 
the necessity there would be for a party remaining some time in the neighbourhood ; 
when he not only gave his full permission to that effect, but promised also to send some 
of his own chiaus and janizaries to attend on, and be useful to such a party. 

It would be an eligible thing to appoint a person from the consul's office to remain 
on the spot, as he would not only give information relative to the supplies of the 
country, but would prevent the natives from mutilating the columns, particularly those 
of granitic porphyry, which they frequently do to make millstones, &c, of ; and not long 
ago a fine statue was discovered, which being too ponderous to remove, the head was 
struck off and taken away. 

Colonel Warrington, the Consul-G-eneral, accompanied me, and manifests great zeal 
to exert himself in procuring men as labourers, or in any way you may think proper to 
direct, on this service. — I remain, &c, 

W. H. Smith, Commander, R.N. 
Rear- Admiral Sir C. V. Penrose, K.C.B. 
&c. &c. &c. 

An echo of this letter was written to Sir Thomas Maitland, the 
Governor of Malta, of which a copy was also forwarded to the Admi- 
ralty; but as the General had directed my attention to another object of 
inquiry, the communication contains the following addition : — 

On the subject of the mountain of salt near Tripoli, mentioned by your Excellency 
to my attention, from a number of considerations and inquiries, I imagine it to be the 
only one of the several that have been long supposed to exist in these parts ; and it 
would appear that even the ancients were fully acquainted with the saline properties of 
the soil, than which no country on the face of the earth was stated to produce so much 
nitric salt. Herodotus, Pliny, and Strabo, give minute details of several of these 
hills ; which descriptions seem to have been confirmed beyond doubt in 1726, by Dr. 
Shaw, in his account of the Lesser Syrtis. But as I had not sufficient leisure to ex- 
amine the place myself, I only call your Excellency's attention to this supposition (of 
that being the site), in order that, if an opportunity should offer, samples from each 
hill might be collected and compared, for the purpose of ascertaining by analysis, 
whether each of the masses is impregnated with a similar proportion of nitre. 

On leaving Tripoli, my operations at Malta and its neighbourhood 
were resumed; and, as Colonel De Bosset, of De Eolle's regiment, was 
appointed by the home-government to embark the antiquities of Lebida 
for England, I gave him all the information in my power ; together with 
copies of my notes and sketches. In the autumn, however, for some rea- 
son or other, the colonel declined the mission ; and on Sir Charles Penrose 
sounding me, my services were at once volunteered, because it was so 



OPENING OF A KOAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 477 

favourable an opportunity for gaining acquaintance with, a part of the 
Mediterranean which had hitherto been, as it were, hermetically sealed 
against us. On the 29th of October a messenger brought me an official 
instruction from that officer, enclosing an extract of a despatch from Sir 
Thomas Maitland, of the 28th, expressing his surprise that Lieutenant- 
Colonel De Bosset 

Did not fulfil that mission to which he was originally recommended to me by Sir 

Henry Bunbury It is impossible that we can now look to that officer any 

further upon this subject. . . . Looking, however, merely at the public interest, I am 
of opinion that the proposal you made to me is at once the most economical and the most 
fitting that could be adopted upon this interesting subject — viz., that Captain Smyth, of 
whose abilities on such a matter I have no doubt, should again proceed there to make a 
more detailed report than he has hitherto done, and make an economical, but at the same 
time, a fair experiment, of what may be the possible value of proceeding further in 
this business. I have given upon this head, my sanction to Major-General Layard, to 
advance him the money that may be requisite for this undertaking, and to supply him 
with tents and such articles as may be indispensably necessary ; but I must suggest, 
that I think from 400 to 600 dollars is as much as is worth risking upon the occasion, 
and my subsequent proceeding must be regulated by his report, and the future instruc- 
tions of Government. 

On the 29th, Sir Charles also wrote to the Admiralty, mentioning 
that " Captain Smyth sails to-morrow for Lebida, with full powers, 
agreeably to their Lordships' Secretary's letter of the 27th of June last, 
being at my request furnished with such money and other means, by Sir 
Thomas Maitland, as were to have been given to Colonel De Bosset, had 
he not declined the mission."* 

As the mission was of a novel nature, I was desirous of securing a 
coadjutor in case of accident, and in Captain (now Colonel) M. C. Dixon, 
of the Royal Engineers, an efficient companion was secured : but to my 
surprise and regret, after the eleventh hour obstacles were thrown in the 
way, and the Captain's leave of absence was recalled. Having hastily 
embarked a few tents, mattocks, and spades, I left Malta on the 30th ; 
but on arrival at Tripoli found that the plague had preceded me, inso- 
much that Colonel "Warrington considered we ought not to land. On 
this I returned to Malta, of which Sir Charles informed the Admiralty, 
by a letter of the 9th of November. In December, however, in con- 
sequence of favourable accounts arriving from the Consul, I again repaired 
to Tripoli, reinforced with the fine little schooner, the Wellington (gun- 
boat No. 28) ; but we encountered a severe winter gale, which compelled 
me to bear up, though the schooner, having no ordnance to labour under, 
got into port. Of this Sir Charles informed the Admiralty : — 



* This is giving the affair its warmest tint, — for the 600 dollars barely paid the work- 
ing Arabs. My own expenses — as keep of servants and an assistant officer, instru- 
ments, horses, and camels — never were a shilling's cost to the country. 



478 APPENDIX. 

Albion, at Malta, Jan. 23, 1817. 

Sir, — I have had the honour before to state, for then- Lordships' information, that 
Captain Smyth, in one of the Sicilian flotilla and the gun-boat No. 28, sailed for Tripoli 
on the 15th of last month ; and since that, Captain Smyth having put back for damage 
received in a severe gale, I had since sent that officer to Tripoli, in the Express, tender. 
That vessel returned yesterday, with information that after the gale before-mentioned, 
the gun-boat succeeded in getting into Tripoli, but very leaky, and obliged to be 
calked and otherwise repaired, before she could return here ;* and that Captain Smyth 
had a very flattering reception from the Bashaw, and was about to proceed in the exe- 
cution of his instructions.— I have the honour, &c, 

C. Y. Penrose, Rear -Admiral. 

J. W. Crofter, Esq. 

Albion, at Malta, Feb. 10, 1817. 

Sir, — Although nothing requiring their Lordships' attention has occurred respecting 
the squadron under my orders since my last letters by packet, yet I think it right not 
to miss a favourable opportunity which presents itself, of stating to their Lordships, 
Captain Smyth's progress on the coast of Africa, and to enclose a letter which I had 
already prepared for their Lordships on that subject. 

My last information is dated Lebida, Feb. 1st, by which I found, that since it was 
suspected by the Arabs that the porphyry columns, &c, were likely to be removed, 
considerable mutilations had taken place for the purposes of millstones, &c, but that 
the captain had begun excavation, and found an entire statue (but his letter being 
written in a hurry, he omits to say of whom), and that a guard of 50 horse and a 
mameluke were to come to him about this time, to proceed to the other ruins stated to 
be of such value. 

Captain Smyth does not apprehend that a traveller would find any difficulty but 
hard living, in proceeding with a caravan to Tombuctoo ; but except that the brother 
of the Vice- Consul of Bengazy, mentioned in my former letter, is qualified for an 
interpreter of Italian and Arabic, there is no person on the spot fit for the business of 
interior research. 

There are some travellers in the east parts of the Tripoline states, but not likely to 
interfere with the present or future plans of inquiry. I mentioned that Captain Smyth 
had been provided with 600 dollars by Sir Thomas Maitland, but the future means of 
supply are not ascertained. 

I hope soon to forward an official detail from that officer. 

In a o-ale which forced Captain Smyth to return, the gun-boat which sailed with 
him succeeded in getting to Tripoli, but with such damage as to require some repairs 
there. — I have the honour to be, &c, 

C. V. Penrose, Rear-Admiral. 
J. W. Crofter, Esq., 
&c. &c. &c. 

Lebida, Feb. 24, 1817. 

Sir, — On my arrival in Tripoli on the 17th ultimo, I found the Wellington schooner 
lying there, but the gale she had encountered on her passage rendered an immediate 
repair necessary, and the foremast of the Express being badly sprung, to prevent loss 
of time I deemed it eligible to proceed to Lebida by land, to make a more detailed 
report on its antiquities and their rarity or value. 

To this effect I waited on the Bashaw, in company with Colonel Warrington, and 



* It proved that the Wellington was too seriously injured for repair ; she was there- 
fore sold to a Tripoline broker ; her crew being sent back in the Express. 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 479 

found him in the same disposition I had left him last May, which encouraged me to 
make an immediate request for permission to explore that part of his Regency near the 
Greater Syrtis ; in which from its having once been populously inhabited by the Maca?, 
Hamanites, and Hasbitse, and afterwards colonised by the Romans, I might, from its 
being less frequented, expect to find remains in better preservation than those of Leptis. 
His Highness instantly acceded to this request, and made a grant of all the works of 
taste, of whatever materials or value in his dominions, including the ruins of Zort, and 
the whole of that part of the Cyrenaica, forming the Pentapolis, to his Royal Highness 
the Prince Regent. 

During the conference, the Mameluke Reis, of whom you have already heard, was 
introduced, and examined with respect to the journey he had recently made into the 
interior. It appears that this officer (Mukni), who is Bey of Fezzan, had departed 
from Mourzouk at the head of an army, with the professed intention of extending the 
Bashaw's dominions, and procuring slaves. He proceeded South Eastward, and, passing 
Bornou, a government in commercial relation with Tripoli, entered a country inhabited 
by a race of fine negroes, on whom he made war, defeated them in every encounter, and 
finally drove them into a large river, on the banks of which they had fought, where 
the greater part of them perished. This river he styles the Nile, and describes as 
running to the eastward, and forming at this part a wide expanse of waters, with nu- 
merous shallows, on some of which the negroes got. The central part he imagines to 
be deep, as many boats were passing and repassing, similar in size and construction to 
the Jerba boats, that is, long and narrow, and from five to fifteen or twenty tons. On 
his return from this expedition, he had passed through some ruins abounding in large 
edifices, and furnished with such a number of statues as to have all the appearance of 
an inhabited place. This account would at once stamp it for the celebrated Raz Sem, 
that has so long engaged the attention of the learned • but from its direction, it would 
rather appear to be in the country of the Trogloditae, at Thama or Adaugmagdum. The 
relation thus officially delivered, besides the lively interest it inspired, prompted me to 
repair thither, and ascertain whether the specimens of art were really worthy of the 
attention of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, or, should it be the scene of the petri- 
factions, to confirm or contradict the bold paradox ; aware at the same time that such 
a journey would be in the spirit of my instructions, and would not only forward the 
views of modern geography, but also illustrate a portion of the Melpomene of He- 
rodotus, and the works of Abulfeda, Ptolemy, Leo, and Edrisi. 

To accomplish this I determined to repair to Lebida and employ a party of Arabs 
in excavating certain spots I conceived would be productive, and leaving charge with 
one of the officers of the Wellington, and the Bashaw's chiaus, to proceed in the mean 
time to the Interior ; but the Bashaw intimated through Colonel Warrington, that he 
was just on the point of declaring war against his eldest son, the Bey of Bengazi, and 
that though his dominions were in general pacific, still some partisans might be lurking 
about who, by securing the Consul-General and myself, would demand terms with 
which he should feel bound to comply. He therefore wished me to remain two or three 
weeks longer, when he was going to send away an expedition to Bengazi, on the move- 
ment of which all the factious people would retire to the eastward, and he would then 
despatch a party of Janissaries to be entirely at my disposal, and conduct me to any 
part of his dominions. 

Upon this I departed for Lebida, where I arrived on the 23rd ; and, on riding over 
the ruins, was surprised to find that most of the valuable columns I had left last April, 
had either been removed or were lying broken on the spot. I discovered, on inquiry, that 
a report had been circulated by the chiaus on my former visit, of an intention to embark 
them during the summer, and, as it had been a quarry from whence tiny supplied 
themselves, they had, in the interval, been busily employed in breaking them into mill- 



480 APPENDIX. 

stones, not only for the present but for a future supply. They had, of course, selected 
the most durable substances, the oriental granite and the red Egyptian granite, which, 
from its compact base, fine felspars, and small admixture of mica scales, I was induced 
to style granitic porphyry. This destruction was assisted by the peculiar construction 
of the Moorish oil-mills ; they being built with a circular surface, having a gentle in- 
clination towards the centre, round which a long stone, at least one-third of a shaft, 
traverses. However, there yet remain several very fine ones, principally of variegated 
Egyptian marble, which, being of greater frangibility than the others, have been 
spared. There are also several of grey granite, and of coarse red Egyptian granite, 
which may be removed immediately, should it be deemed desirable ; but some of the 
granite ones have undergone the first process for the millstones, which is chipping off 
the astragal and torus, and many of the marbles show the corrosive effects of sea-spray. 

To secure these from further damage, Colonel Warrington, who accompanied me 
hither, set off on his return to Tripoli the following morning, where he made the 
Bashaw acquainted with the loss ; and I sent for the Sheiks of the Moorish towns 
and Arab villages in the neighbourhood, to admonish them, and on every side received 
assurances that the remains should be respected in future. Should it therefore be the 
intention of Government to remove them, I beg leave to suggest that an immediate 
order be sent to the Consul-General to prepare them for embarkation, which he, from 
having studied mechanics and engineer tactics, and possessing many local advantages 
with the natives, is so much better capable of effecting than a stranger. For the time 
of sending a vessel or vessels, I am of opinion, that after the equinoctial gales of Sep- 
tember is much the most eligible time of the year, as the coast being unsheltered from 
the heavy gales of winter, which may be expected even in April, would render it unsafe 
in the spring. In the summer the heat is oppressive, and, I apprehend from an ex- 
amination of the situation, and the result of inquiry, that the dangerous marsh fever, 
prevalent in the Mediterranean under the name of malaria, would be experienced 
here during the months of June, July, and August. 

On the 25th I commenced an excavation with upwards of eighty Arabs, whom I 
increased the following day to a hundred ; and as they quickly gained the use of the 
English spade and mattock, the work proceeded with spirit. But I had soon the 
mortification of perceiving, from every local evidence, that Leptis had been completely 
ravaged, and its public edifices demolished with diligent labour, owing, perhaps, to the 
violent contentions of the Carthaginian bishops, and the introduction of the Vandal 
Christians of Genseric, who zealously destroyed the Pagan monuments of places under 
their control. This opinion, many of the coins I have found bearing the Labarum, 
would countenance ; or perhaps it was from the vengeance of the barbarians, for the 
memorable treachery of the Leptitani. From whatever cause it proceeded, the de- 
struction is complete ; the statues either broken to pieces or chipped to a shapeless 
mass, the arabesque works defaced, the acanthus leaves and volutes knocked off the 
fallen capitals, and even parts of the pavement and floorings torn up, the massy shafts 
alone remaining entire. Willing, however, to give it as fair a trial as was consistent 
with the economy recommended, I continued excavating till the 12th of February, 
when, having explored the principal basilica, a triumphal arch, a peristyleum, an 
arcade, and several minor places, with only a strengthened conviction of the distant 
existing chance of recovering any specimen of art worth the expense of enlarged 
operations, I determined to desist and prosecute, during the interval of the army's 
arriving, a geographical research of the parts formerly comprehended under the title of 
Cyniphi Eegio. 

In the course of the excavation I had an opportunity of observing, that the period 
of the principal grandeur of the city must have been posterior to the Augustan age, 
and when taste was on the decline ; for, notwithstanding the valuable materials with 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 481 

which it was built, it appears to have been overloaded with bad ornaments, and three 
colossal statues I found (but without heads, arms, or feet) are in the very worst style 
of the Lower Empire. I send by this opportunity for your further information, several 
of the best pieces of sculpture I discovered, which will also show you the manner in which 
they have been mutilated, as these are selected from nearly two hundred fragments. I 
must also remark that there are evident appearances, in several places, of a former 
excavation, which most probably was carried on by the agents of Louis XIV. 

There are many evidences of the city having been occupied after its first and violent 
destruction, from several of the walls and towers being built of various pieces of 
architecture, cornice, inscription, and other portions heaped together ; but I have found 
nothing to indicate great antiquity, except an almost obliterated inscription on the wall 
of a mosque, at Ziphaar, in which the mixture of Roman and Greek characters would 
indicate an early age of the Republic. The pieces of Doric entablature I had before 
noticed, and the cyathiform capitals prove but poor and ill-proportioned imitations. I 
also opened three distinct burial-grounds, with a view of gaining further information, 
but with little success, as I found neither urns, vases, nor lachrymatories ; only a coarse 
species of jar and a few coins. Even these were neither valuable nor rare, being 
wholly copper, greatly corroded, and principally those of Nerva, Commodus, Con- 
stantine, Alexander Severus, Balbinus, and Faustina. 

On a fragment I observed near the ruins, I found the common Moslem prayer in- 
scribed, which, as I understand, is to be found in the remotest places resorted to by cara- 
vans, and is also copied for amulets ; I thought this would be curious, and its removal, 
far from being a matter of contention with the natives, appeared to give satisfaction, 
particularly to the Bashaw's son, Sidi Achmet Bey. This prince visited my tent and 
examined my instruments, the trenches I had made, and the marbles I had collected, 
with great attention. In fact, although for fear of interrupting the present friendly 
disposition of the Government, I have not pointedly introduced religious subjects, I 
find that Mahometan intolerance has greatly subsided in this Regency, for I was 
allowed freely to enter the mosques, with only the condition of pulling off my shoes ; 
and the Moors have both ate and drank with me, even in country places, where they 
are more observant of their tenets, and less familiar with Christians than in the capital. 
I have shown the Arabic translation of the Bible to several ; but though the characters 
are well understood, none even of their marabuts can read it, as the vernacular tongue 
of all these parts is the jargon called lingua-franca ; and this, I am informed, is under- 
stood by some one in most of the interior caravans. 

While on this subject, I must inform you of my having had several remarkable 
conversations relative to the existence of certain Christian tribes in the interior of 
Africa ; and, it would appear, in the neighbourhood of Wangara and Gooba. They are 
described as a very muscular race of negroes, but I cannot discover that any sign of 
the Cross or other characteristic symbol has been observed, and their tenets are so 
slightly impressed, that on their arrival in the market they readily embrace Mahometan- 
ism. A French captain (Lautier) in the service of the Bashaw, who has resided in 
Tripoli twenty-five years, circumstantially related to me that several years ago some of 
them were brought from the interior, and that twenty-eight of the finest being selected 
to be sent to Algiers, he was appointed to transport them thither. As he was bringing 
his vessel to an anchor, an evening hell was heard on board one of the Christian ships, 
when, to his infinite surprise, those on deck manifested the utmost delight, and calling 
up their companions fervently embraced them, pointing at the same time towards the 
vessel the .sound issued from, and repeating the word cam/pami. As this appeared a, 
corruption of the Italian, or more properly of the Latin itself, he made his interpreter 
inquire concerning their congratulations, and found that in their native town a Larj 
building occupied a central space, having a bell on it, which every morning ami evening 

I I 



482 APPENDIX. 

summoned them to prayers ; and that in this building there were neither idol, mat, 
nor divan ; but that their priest exhorted them. Another curious fact is, that the late 
Bey of Bengazi, who in his boyhood was brought a slave to Tripoli, recollected some 
ceremony similar to the celebration of mass, and the use of consecrated wine. I could 
not, in the course of my inquiry, find whether a manuscript, or portion of one, had 
ever been observed in any caravan ; but the absence of circumcision, combined with 
the circumstance of the bell and the wine, sufficiently indicate that Mahometan doc- 
trines are not the only ones prevalent. I therefore conceive that by procuring a man, 
and educating him for the purpose, important results may be anticipated, and a road 
opened to the full discovery of those regions in the vicinity of the Lunar Mountains. 

Yesterday the Bashaw's army passed and encamped about a quarter of a mile from 
my tents ; and as it is my intention to set off to-morrow into the interior, I deemed it 
requisite to make the arrangements for sending you the pieces of sculpture, and my 
opinion of the actual state of Leptis. These I shall leave in charge of a dragoman, to 
be embarked on board the Wellington the moment of her arrival. Should the place 
the Bey of Fezzan passed through be B-az Sem, or Ghirrza, in the neighbourhood of the 
Syrtis, I compute it will occupy about three weeks ; should it be towards the S.W. 
longer, but as I feel in a great measure ignorant of the precise spot to which I am 
going, I am unable to state the probable time I shall be absent. — I am, &c, 

(Signed) W. H. Smyth, Commander, R.N. 

Rear-Admiral Sir C. V. Penrose, 
&c. &c. &c. 

Tripoli, March 27, 1817. 

Sir, — After having written my letter of the 24th ultimo, I was prevented from 
following the army as I then proposed, by the report a courier brought me from the 
Consul- General, relative to the state of the Wellington schooner; in consequence of 
which, I deemed it absolutely necessary to repair to Tripoli, and inspect into the nature 
of her defects. 

I availed myself of that opportunity of waiting on the Bashaw, to thank him for 
the attentions I had received at Lebida ; and he then intimated that he wished me to 
proceed to a town on the mountains called Benuleat (or Beniolid, from Beni Walid), 
where a company of Janissaries had received orders to reinforce our party, as he would 
wish our safeconduct to be indubitable : however, from the situation of his affairs, and 
from what I have seen since of the country, I am persuaded his appointing so large an 
escort had political influence in view. His Highness also signified his desire that Sidi 
Amouri, his son-in-law, and Sidi Mahomet, his nephew, should accompany us, and 
furnished them with his teskerah, authorizing the whole of us to subsist gratuitously on 
the Arabs ; but as I deemed such a paper detrimental to future undertakings, it was 
never used without a present, proportionate to the comparative value of the article, 
being made. 

On the morning of the 28th I left Tripoli, accompanied by the Consul- General, the 
two Sidis, three dragomen, twenty-six Moorish horsemen, and several camels.* Pro- 
ceeding by the fertile grounds of Sahaal, and afterwards over a hilly and almost uncul- 
tivated country, we arrived on the noon of the 3rd of March, at Benuleat, a place com-. 



* I ought here to have mentioned, that on the 2nd of March we passed Gusser- 
kzab, an old tower in the plain of Frussa, where, about three years before, a number of 
gold and silver coins had been discovered. Of these I was unable to procure a single 
specimen, they having been all taken to Tripoli, where they were most probably melted, 
and their date and story lost for ever. 



OPEXIXG OF A ROAD IXTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 483 

posed of several straggling villages, in a fertile ravine five or six miles in length, 
bounded by barren rocks of difficult access. The population, exclusive of the govern- 
ment guards, consists of about 2000 inhabitants, who subsist principally by agriculture, 
and a trifling manufacture of nitre ; they are accounted industrious, hardy, and brave, 
and amongst them the present Bashaw, when in rebellion against his father, resided 
eight years. 

A large and ill-proportioned building, called the Castle, near one of the pleasantest 
spots in the ravine, was prepared for our reception, and a plentiful supply of provisions 
and forage provided. Though I visited another species of blockhouse, this may be 
deemed the principal fortress ; it is situated in a valley, and commanded at almost 
every point ; it contains several rooms, good stabling, and a large courtyard, but the 
water is a musket-shot distant. The walls are badly perforated for musketry, and 
furnished with round bastions, too weak however to bear artillery. Its position by two 
meridian altitudes of the sun, in a quicksilver horizon, and bearings carefully corrected, 
is in latitude 31° 45' 38" North, and longitude 1° 01' East of Tripoli. 

Here having found several people who had recently arrived from the place I was 
bound to, and which I found was called Ghirrza, I repeated my inquiries respecting 
its remains, and again received assurances that I should find perfect figures of men, 
women, children, camels, horses, tigers, ostriches, and dogs ; and the belief of their 
being petrefactions was so prevalent, that a doubt was expressed whether I should be 
able to remove one of those whom it had pleased Providence thus to punish for their 
sins. This revelation, while it wound my expectation to a high pitch, afforded me 
considerable gratification, in finding the report did not vary on approaching the scene, 
as I had apprehended. 

On the 6th, having been joined by three mountain chiefs, Mahomed, Abdallah, and 
Hadji Alii, with twenty-five janissaries, and fifteen camels laden with water, barley, 
tents, &c, we proceeded to the south-eastward over a dreary mountainous country, 
nearly uninhabited ;* and on the 8th arrived at a part of the Valley of Zemzem, which 
was within three or four miles of Ghirrza. It was then night, and such was my im- 
patience to ascertain the cause of the extraordinary story so universally promulgated, 
that I anxiously watched for the approach of day. Early on the following morning, 
having left a party to guard the tents and baggage, I proceeded over the hills in com- 
pany with Colonel Warrington, the Sidis, twenty janissaries, and a camel bearing my 
instruments. 

I quickly perceived the mention of cold springs and shifting sands by some authors 
to be erroneous, as the situation is mountainous and barren, presenting only fatiguing 
masses of sandstone, quartz, and limestone ; with occasionally a remarkable vitrified 
pyrite resembling porous lava. The scene is sometimes varied by ravines, which, 
though neglected, are evidently capable of great fertility, from the luxuriant tallir trees, 
lotus, and other shrubs, which spontaneously cover them. But, as might be expected 
of a government where despotism and bigotry have united to depress the exertions of 
private interest, destroy public spirit, and retard the progress of improvement, so as to 
keep its subjects at a vast distance from civilization, large tracts of country are almost 
left waste ; and the little cultivation occasionally exhibited, is carried on in the most 
primitive mode, without deriving the slightest benefit from the many agricultural 
improvements which successive ages have effected. 



* I might have mentioned, that on the 7th we encamped in an open space at a well 
of bad water, called Kanaphis, where we found a small kaffle from Fezzan. The 
district was remarkable, since we were exceedingly tormented by swarms of ticks, tli.it 
teased alike both our horses and ourselves. 

II 2 



484 APPENDIX. 

After a short ride, we came suddenly upon the ruins of Ghirrza, when, although I 
had not suffered my imagination to rise at all in proportion to the accounts I had. 
received, I could not conceal the mortification I experienced in observing a few ill- 
constructed houses of comparatively modern date, on the break of a rocky hill ; and 
across a ravine at a small distance several tombs. On approaching the latter I found 
them, in very bad taste, ornamented with ill-proportioned columns and clumsy capitals ; 
and neglecting the divisions of architrave, frieze, and cornice, nearly the whole depth 
of the entablature was loaded with absurd representations of warriors, huntsmen, 
camels, horses, and other animals, in low relief — or rather scratched on the freestone of 
which they are constructed, and certainly forming the very worst attempt at sculpture 
I ever beheld. The pedestals are generally without a dye, and the space between the 
base and cornice bears a wretched attempt at arabesque ornament ; while, after the 
manner of the Eomans, a violation of decency is observable in several places. 

Across a fine but neglected valley to the south-eastward, in which were great 
numbers of wild antelopes and ostriches, is a monumental obelisk of heavy proportion ; 
and near it are five tombs, similar in style and ornament to the first. There are but 
three inscriptions, nor can other reference be had, as the whole have been opened, 
in search, I suppose, of treasure ; but as no person resides near the spot, I was deprived 
of the benefit of local information. The reliefs are nearly perfect ; and, as this ridicu- 
lous collection lies near the Fezzan road, people from the interior occasionally tamed to 
examine it, being the only specimen of sculpture they ever saw, and representing 
objects familiar to them, made them describe on their arrival in Tripoli, in glowing 
colours, what they had seen. This account, warmed perhaps by the story of Nardoun, 
increased to a Petrified City ; and at length gained such celebrity, as not only to attract 
the attention of Europe, but in Africa to obtain universal belief; for it has been deemed 
a species of pilgrimage to resort thither as the caravan passes, and inscribe a blessing 
for the unfortunate petrified Moslems ; and with these the pedestals are actually covered.* 
Ghirrza is situated near some barren hills called Garatilia, and from its want of 
water, and sterile, comfortless appearance, could only have been a military station in 
communication with Thabunte. Its situation by two good altitudes of the sun, in an 
artificial horizon, is in latitude 31° T 17" North, and longitude, deduced from bearings 
carefully carried from Benuleat and tried back, 1° 29' 52" East of Tripoli. The ruins 
of the houses are neither indicative of greatness nor opulence ; on the tombs the largest 
figures are about three feet and a half high, and the specimen I brought down with me 
is of the smallest ; yet, notwithstanding the diminutive size and despicable execution, 
the Turks who accompanied me eyed them with admiration and respect. Never, in 
fact, has a palpable instance been brought before me so strongly proving the degraded 
state a Mahometan education, destitute at once of liberality and emulation, reduces 
its disciples to : nor could I but regret to see men, in many other respects estimable, so 
glaringly deficient in the necessary discernment acquired easily by the pursuit of general 
knowledge. 

On the 11th, I wished to proceed by the road to Succa and Mesurata to Lebida ; 
but as I had so many men and camels belonging to Benuleat, it became necessary to 
return thither. From thence I went to the north-eastward, in hopes of finding some 



* A wandering Bedoween, who had been sometime in the Wadie, brought me a good 
large brass medal of the elder Faustina, which he had found in the immediate vicinity 
of Ghirrza. This is no criterion for date, and from the mixture of Egyptian and 
Boman taste in the architecture of the principal building, the uncertainty is still greater. 
We copied the rudely-cut inscriptions, but no name of a known family rewarded the 
ti-ouble. 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 485 

remains of Taliti, Tenadassa, Mespe, and Syddeniis, which were in the chain of com- 
munication with Cydamus, and the stations of the Tritonis ; but I met with nothing 
but a few dilapidated towers, and some indifferent ruins which, from their situation, 
were probably those of Mespe. On the 19th I passed along the banks of the Cyniphus, 
and from thence returned to Lebida. Having there made arrangements for preparing 
some of the variegated marble columns (the cipollino) and some of granite, for embark- 
ation, I departed for Tripoli, and arrived on the 26th instant. 

Although this journey has not wholly answered the sanguine expectations I had 
formed, it has been the means of showing the disposition of the Bashaw and his subjects 
with respect to Christians travelling in the Regency ; and from the various information 
I have collected, it appears that so favourable an opportunity of prosecuting the inves- 
tigation of those unknown regions — which yet remain the disgrace of geography and 
knowledge — has never before occurred. The Bey of Fezzan is preparing for another 
journey to the south-eastward, where he procured his slaves before, and would no doubt 
receive any person in charge from the Bashaw ; by which an opening would be made 
for a direct route to the probable source of the Nile, as the Bashaw's influence extends 
to a great distance from his frontier. The Bey asserts, that an Englishman went on an 
expedition with him about seventeen years ago, from Fezzan ; and that he died in con- 
sequence of a fever, and was buried near Aucalas. 

The shores of the Syrtis, the Cyrenaica, and coast as far as Egypt, which may be 
almost styled unknown (and actually are in a late French chart), his Highness has already 
granted me permission to examine, and I hope to add them to the portion I have 
already explored. But I think attention ought to be directed to the important object 
of the Tombuctoo caravans from Mourzouk ; by one of which the Prince of Tombuctoo, 
a few years ago, came to Tripoli, and settled a commercial treaty, which, from the 
exorbitant duties imposed, has almost expired. Still, however, caravans occasionally 
go from Fezzan, sometimes direct, and at others to Twat, and from thence to Tom- 
buctoo. From every inquiry I really conceive it to be a practicable route ; and with 
the protection, not only of the sovereign of Tripoli, but those of Turns, Morocco, and 
Algiers, I believe a person would be perfectly secure, as none of the powers intervening 
between the Niger and their dominions would like to infringe on so formidable a 
guarantee. 

I regret to be under the necessity of recommending that a person be sent to accom- 
pany the Bey of Fezzan, on so depraved a mission as that of dragging away the natives 
of a country for sale, which of course must be repugnant to every humane heart ; but 
as it is the only method of acquiring a knowledge of their actual condition and distresses, 
with the mode of alleviating them, it becomes a necessary measure to be an eye-witness. 
This traffic has rapidly increased since the destruction of the slave-trade on the Western 
Coasts, and has also augmented since the suppression of the Barbary pirates. The 
slaves formerly embarked at the factories, are now driven over the country to these 
ports, and are from thence exported to different parts of Turkey and Syria ; and I 
learn with surprise, that since I have been in the Regency, two vessels have sailed from 
the port of Tripoli, laden with a number unknown, even to the most hardened Liverpool 
traders of similar burthens. 

Leaving these considerations to your better judgment, I remain, 
Your obedient humble servant, 

(Signed) W. H. Smyth, Commander, R.N. 

To Sir C. V. Penrose, K.C.B. 
Commander-in-Chief. 



486 APPENDIX. 

Tripoli, April 5, 1817. 

Sir, — Immediately after despatching my letter on the morning of the 27th ult., 
and having had another interview with the Bashaw, I hurried away again for the pur- 
pose of visiting a set of greatly- vaunted ruins, about fifty or sixty miles off, in a south- 
east direction ; as I much wished to see them before sailing for Malta, having had 
much discourse about them with the Arab sheiks of the hills round Lebida. By the 
zealous care of Colonel Warrington, everything was soon ready ; and, accompanied by 
a special red-burnoose chiaus, and the brother of Sidi Amouri, we started on the 
evening of the 29th, taking a route towards the Tarhounah mountains, which we had 
so recently passed on then north side. On the road we were well treated by the Duffa- 
surat Arabs, and crossed the first range of hills by the pass named from them ; where 
we observed that the scarps on either side exhibited coarse sandstone above a bed of 
finer grain reposing on limestone. But some curious and remarkable specimens of 
fulgurites, or tubes vitrified by lightning in the sands, were shown us, as having been 
produced in the severe storm which had set us all afloat in the tents at Lebida, about 
three weeks before. 

From this neighbourhood we passed, on the morning of the 31st, towards the well 
of Badwa-Weled-Busaid, and from thence travelled in a direction a little south of east ; 
somewhat parallel to our accustomed Lebida route. Every here and there were scattered 
vestiges of former days, giving an indication of a greater and more important population 
than at present; and I was much struck with the remains of one tower, evidently 
Roman, which had been rendered defensible by some Arab insurgents, if such a desig- 
nation can be applied to men endeavouring to escape a grinding and oppressive tyranny, 
the right of which they had never owned. At length, on crossing the upper part of 
the well-known Wady Ramel, we arrived at Milah, or Medina Dugha, the remains of 
which, I had been assured, would interest me more than those of Lebida had done, 
But — not to my surprise — they fell very short of report, and even the chiaus himself 
seemed to be disappointed. However, from the massy foundations, ashler blocks, and 
numerous architectural fragments among the brushwood and talhr trees, it is clear that 
an ancient city of considerable importance stood here ; and that, however busy it might 
have been, and however its citizens might have plumed themselves, it is probable no 
record of it remains. It seems to have occupied more than three miles in length by 
about two in breadth ; and there are indications of its having been strongly fortified, 
much in the style of Lebida, and of about the same date — i. e., if Spartian be right, 
about the time of the Emperor Severus, a native of that city, who ordered the fortifica- 
tions to be built. While examining the ruins, the Arabs told us marvellous stories about 
the wonderful extent of the subterranean chambers and passages ; but I had neither time 
nor inclination to explore them, and young Amouri was too much alarmed at the pro- 
spect of dubbahs and dib-a-dibs (hysenas and jackals) being there, to descend. The 
badinage upon this point occasioned the utmost good-humour; and I am more than 
ever convinced that men of the right cast can easily secure good fellowship in Africa. 

Having satisfied myself that no result of sufficient value would follow my remaining 
here, we returned to the Consul's hospitable mansion, where I had the pleasure of 
receiving your packet. On this journey, as before, I rode on an English saddle, in an 
undress uniform ; and found, despite of certain objections made by some consuls against 
showing the Christian dress, that our appearance excited as little surprise as it had done 
around Lebida. But it is a questio vexata here,* whether travellers should assume the 



* This question has been pretty well settled in the last few years. When I was in 
the Levant, turbans, mantles, satins, silks, embroidery, fire-arms, yatagans, caftans, 
flowing l-obes, and loose Turkish petticoat-trousers were the universal wear ; but now, 
on a change tout cela, for even the Sultan in Constantinople, and all the officials, appear 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 487 

Turkish attire or aot ; the opponents declaring that Moslems were never yet deceived 
by it, and that even Aly Bey was detected the moment he entered a bath, by the corns 
on his feet : yet when such men as Hornemann and Burckhardt found it necessary to 
adopt that costume, the topic merits serious consideration. Still, I think a mezzo ter- 
ming is offered in some of the Frank dresses of Barbary. 

Yesterday and this morning have been devoted to a continuation of my former 
inquiries on this head ; and from all that can safely be trusted, without fully relying 
upon any one, I am becoming still more convinced that here — through this place, and 
by means of these people — is an open gate into the interior of Africa. By striking due 
south of Tripoli, a traveller will reach Bornu before he is out of Yusuf s influence ; and 
wherever his power reaches, the protecting virtues of the British flag are well known. 
In fact, looking to the unavoidable causes of death along the malarious banks of the 
rivers on the western coast, I think this ought to be the chosen route, because prac- 
ticable into the very heart of the most benighted quarter of the globe. Indeed, I feel 
more than half inclined to offer myself as a. volunteer, but for the welcome news in your 
last, of a ship's being on her way from England for me. "Were it not for this, I would 
assuredly beg you to allow of my exploring the flanks of the Atlas range at least, for 
the chance of there finding a tribe still speaking the language in which Hannibal wrote 
his despatches. Should you be successful in procuring an efficient and duly qualified 
person, he will be received here with open arms, both by Colonel Warrington and M, 
Carstensen, the Danish consul, a gentleman well-versed in the English language, and 
also acquainted with Arabic. With the friendship of these two, and the aid of the 
Bashaw, an explorer has all chance of success ; but I would advise him, as his Highness, 
as well as all his chiefs, has much of that Numidian fourberie which Bacon termed 
' sinister wisdom,' to permit a little forereaching upon him in small things — even with 
open eyes — to gain a desirable end. 

Bashaw Yusuf is certainly a strange compound of virtue and vice ; and he waded 
through a brother's blood to the throne, so far back as the year 1795. He is of social 
habits and intelligent, an affectionate father, and a warm friend. Nature seems to have 
intended him for a good man, and the awful instances to the contrary must be attributed 
to unbridled despotism and uncultivated mind. Owing to these, and other misfortunes 
of station, he has exhibited profusion and avarice, courage and timidity, temperance 
and excess, mercy and vengeance, credulity and scepticism, in singular antitheses. 
Still, a traveller need not trouble his head about this ; for Colonel Warrington — by a 
manly firmness and judicious bearing — has acquired a complete influence over him. 
To myself his Highness has always been remarkably attentive, and has shown great 
patience in getting my repeated, and perhaps tiresome, inquiries answered : on these 
occasions I usually carried my principal queries written, and procured the replies deli- 
berately, one at a time ; and though we were often in confusion, a little information 
was gleaned. It may illustrate his character to mention, that when we were surveying 
the harbour, and measuring the outside of his own castle, a busy-body ' wondered' to 
him that he allowed such operations : ' Oh,' said his Highness, ' if the English wish 
to attack it, they need not come first and measure the wall.'* 

In regard to Sir Thomas Maitland's desire, Colonel Warrington kindly got old 



in frock-coats and close pants, with a Fez cap on their heads. They moreover find 
that they can walk about without lumbering themselves with a brace of pistols od each 
side of their belt. Tt rrvpora m utwntw ! 

* On my finally taking leave of him, his Highness exhibited considerable feeling, and 
presented me with his own sword, a wavy-bladed seiniotar, which had been blessed at 
Mecca. It is now in the Museum of the United Service Institution. 



488 APPENDIX. 

D'Ghies and Sidi Amouri to make inquiries for me ; and others have assisted. From 
all that can be collected, both ancients and moderns have been greatly misled respecting 
mountains of salt, though there are most extensive saline tracts in this Eegency. I 
myself have seen numerous camels loaded with solid indurated salt, in long blocks, 
from the shores of the Syrtis, and it is also found elsewhere. There is no doubt but 
that saltpetre — good and bad — is manufactured to a great extent ; but the principal 
place I can hear of, as meeting the description which Sir Thomas had received, is an 
elevated plain about 400 miles south of Tripoli, the elevation being described merely 
'as if a town had been smothered with salt, and the salt covered with sand to the 
depth of about a foot.' A poor mountain this ! In like cases, from the defective 
information of the natives, and our own tendency to put leading traits which beg the 
question, we become mutually wrong, whence no strong reliance is to be placed on any 
of the information thus obtained ; but at present we can gather no other. In my con- 
stant inquiries after the great river to the south, which I mentioned to you at Malta, the 
contradictory assertions are sorely perplexing. Without exact ideas of time or distance, 
they state the bearings of a place from the direction of a first day's journey ; and any 
running stream is sometimes called a lake and at others a river. Now the river which 
should be the western Nile of Herodotus, gets farther and farther to the south after 
every consultation, and has even been carried several months' journey off. This would 
not be objected to, provided there was any dependance to be placed on the replies ; for 
assuredly we have no warrant for keeping the historian's river on this side of the line. 
It is to be hoped that few years will pass ere a clear light will be thrown on this 
interesting problem. — I have the honour to remain, &c. 

(Signed) W. H. Smyth, Commander, R.N. 
To Sir 0. H. Penrose, K.G.B. 
&c. &c. &c. 

His Majesty's Ship Aid, off Lebida, Nov. 9, 1817. 

Sik, — I anchored off Tripoli on the 14th ultimo, with the Weymouth store-ship in 
company ; and, in order to prevent loss of time, pressed an immediate audience with 
the Bashaw, who received me with a very marked attention, and readily entered into 
all the views I proposed. His Highness also directed that Sidi Amouri, his son-in-law, 
should be embarked on board the Aid, in order to render me every facility for expe- 
diting the departure of the Weymouth. 

Having effected all the requisite arrangements, we made sail, and arrived at this 
anchorage on the 18th; and the same day commenced towing the spars on shore, 
and preparing the store ship's derrick and holds for the reception of the architectural 
remains which Colonel Warrington had during the summer brought down to the beach, 
under the ruins of the western fortress. As we had a continuance of fine weather, 
and the seamen were unanimous and cheerful in their exertions, I had the satisfaction 
to perceive these weighty masses embarked and stowed, at the rate of at least sixty 
tons a day; which, when you consider the open roadstead, the distance the ships 
necessarily were from the beach, and our limited crews, I trust will meet your appro- 
bation. It is but justice to add that Mr. Turner, the commander of the Weymouth, 
has been indefatigable in his exertions to complete ; and by his judicious arrangements 
on board, no accident has occurred. 

On the 22nd his Highness Sidi Achmet Bey, the presumptive successor to the 
Musnud, arrived with his army from Bengazi, whither he had been with intent to have 
brought his elder brother, an abandoned cruel character, prisoner to Tripoli ; but he, 
finding very few partisans, had fled into Egypt, and quiet was restored with little blood- 
shed. His Highness, accompanied by his principal officers, rode down to the beach, 
when he was received with repeated cheers by the boats' crews ; and I deemed it 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 489 

expedient to salute him from the ships. With this attention he was much gratified ; 
and we experienced the good effects in the orders he gave, and the additional good- 
humour it inspired the Moors with. It is on many accounts satisfactory to state, that 
the service has been performed without the occurrence of a single quarrel, or dispute, 
between the seamen and the natives. 

I was sorry to find that neither the raft-ports, nor hatchways, of the Weymouth, 
would admit the three large cipollino columns ; and in embarking the others, I have 
been under the necessity of selecting those of various dimensions, in consequence of 
the destructive mutilation that has taken place since my first visit. I have, besides, 
sent pieces from which drums might be cut, to fit the damaged columns. With the 
same view I have put several fragments of marble slab and cornice on board, that fractures 
in the capitals, &c, might be repaired with stone of the same quality. But the 
specimens of sculpture are only embarked in order to show the style of execution, and 
the manner in which they have been defaced. The small stone with the horseman on 
it, is from one of the tombs of Ghirrza ; and the inscriptions are on specimens of the 
marmoric conglomerate with which the public edifices of Leptis Magna were con- 
structed. Of those five columns which I styled granitic porphyry — and of which I sent 
you a fragment — not one remains above ground ; and on examining the ruins, I found 
that notwithstanding the threats of the Bashaw, the promises of the Sheiks, and the 
whole business that took place last winter, a number of the finest columns I then left 
have been broken ; and there is actually a Tunisian vessel now loading with the pieces. 

I observed also that several of those, the astragal of which just appeared above the 
sand, had been cleared down a few feet, and struck off; consequently none worth 
removal (except the three large cipollino ones on the beach) remain visible ; and though 
a quantity might, perhaps, be procured by excavation, yet as it would be in those spots 
where the sand is deepest, their removal would be very expensive. I therefore judged 
it expedient to discharge all the working party, until a determination on the subject 
would be made on the arrival of the store-ship in England, or a communication to the 
contrary should be sent by you; in either of which cases, the Consul-General can 
immediately procure the necessary assistance again. 

The anchorage we are lying at has much better holding-ground than that of Tripoli 
Roads, being sand and rocky patches inshore, and mud in the offing. It is entirely 
clear of shelves and shoals ; and I should think the winds, even in heavy gales, seldom 
blow home, from the existence of numerous phosphorescent medusa and other mollusca, 
generally natives of smooth water. In standing inshore, a berth may be taken at 
pleasure in from twenty to ten fathoms, which last will be about a mile from the shore. 

The bearings from the Aid, in latitude 32° 38 v 50" North, and longitude 14° 15 v 15 u 
East, were Raz-al-Scian N.W.|N.— Tabia Point S.S.E.— Ziliten Point S.E.— and the 
ruins of the ancient fortress of the harbour, S. W., about a mile and a quarter distant. 
Provisions might be procured in the greatest abundance, if the Bashaw's teskera is 
obtained for a supply, and the shores afford good fish ; but water is scarce, and what 
there is is brackish. 

| Here follows a set of sailing directions for the coast.) 
I have the honour to remain, &c, 

W. H. Smyth, Commander. 
Rear- Admiral Sir C. V. Penrose, K.C.B. 
&c. &c. &c. 

//. M. Ship Aid, Nov. 26, 1817. 

Sir, — After the departure of the Weymouth for Malta, I obtained an audience with 
the Bashaw, in order to make arrangements for my further proceedings; and also to 
take into consideration the practicability of researches being made in the interior of 
Africa, through bis influence. 



490 APPENDIX. 

I found that, although his Highness was ready to grant my request for exploring 
the greater Syrtis, yet his sea-officers were utterly against the measure, at this advanced 
season of the year; deducing arguments by which I perceived that this celebrated 
gulf still retains its imaginary terrors. I say imaginary, because on close questioning 
them all, I could find no one who had been further in it than Bengazi, and consequently 
could form no opinion, but from traditional report. I therefore, on deliberate consi- 
deration, determined to persevere in my original resolution. 

But his Highness entered on the subject of the interior of Africa with the most 
encouraging frankness ; and, as an object so highly important ought to be circumstan- 
tially related, I subjoin the principal questions as proposed by me, and answered by the 
Bashaw, or officers present. 

Q. His Boyal Highness, the Prince Eegent, by a magnanimous perseverance in the 
cause of humanity and justice, having bestowed peace to Europe, is now solicitous to 
extend his benevolent views to the natives of those regions lying to the southward of 
the dominions of your Highness, and the several kings, your allies. Will your High- 
ness, therefore, assist so laudable an object, by affording your powerful protection ? 

A . I shall be happy to render every assistance to such an undertaking. I have 
already shown that to two Englishmen, who came here some years ago. 

Q. Is your Highness certain they were Englishmen ? 

A. They said they were, and that they came from Egypt by way of Fezzan. 

Q. Does your Highness, or any person in the Divan, recollect either of their names ? 

No answer was given to this question for some time ; on which I asked if the name 
of one might not be Homeman, when Mourad Eeis (Peter Lyell) said he now recol- 
lected it was.* 

Q. How long is it since they were in Tripoli ? 

A. About fifteen or sixteen years. 

Q. What became of them after they left Tripoli, and where were they bound to ? 

A. They returned to Fezzan with intent to penetrate southward to the Nile (Niger), 
and thence by the river to Tombuctoo ; but one of them, who had been ill of a fever 
occasioned by drinking too much bad water, after fatigue, died at Aucalas. 

Q. Was that the same person mentioned to me last winter by the Bey of Fezzan ? 

A . The same — the Bey had charge to conduct them to Bournou. 

Q. Does your Highness know what became of the other? 

A. He continued the journey, but fell ill at Houssa, in the dwelling of a Tripoline 
merchant established there, and resuming his travels before he was properly recovered, 
relapsed, and died at Tombuctoo. 

Q. Does your Highness know whether either of them left any papers, books, or 
effects? 

A . No ; but I will direct an inquiry — Moors never destroy papers. 

Q. Does your Highness imagine it difficult for a party to reach the Nile (Niger), 
through the dominions of your friend, the King of Burnu ? 

A. Not in the least, — the road to Burnu is as beaten as that to Bengazi. 

Q. Will your Highness grant protection to a party wishing to proceed that way ? 

A. Any person wishing to go in that direction, I will send an embassy to Burnu to 
escort him thither ; and from thence the king will protect him to the Nile. But I must 
first clothe him as a Turk. 

Q. Will he be subject to much troublesome inquiry on that head? 

A . No ; but he must not say he is a Christian. People in the interior are very 
ignorant. I will clothe him myself in a particular way. 



* This statement appeared in print, and enabled Horneman's heirs, through Baron 
de Zach's appealing to me for its authenticity, to succeed to considerable property. 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 491 

Q. But will your Highness guarantee the perfect safety of such a person against all 
accidents, except sickness or unavoidable casualties ? 

A. I do guarantee. 

Q. Will your Highness undertake to produce, in the event of disaster, the papers 
and effects of the deceased, with a particular note, written by himself, commencing on 
the day he might be taken ill, stating his opinion, &c. of the cause, and continued 
daily until he shall be rendered incapable of writing ? This question is not to be con- 
sidered by your Highness as a doubt of safeconduct, but it is absolutely necessary for 
the consolation of the friends of the defunct. 

A . I do undertake to produce all such papers ; but there ought not to be less than 
four persons in case of misfortunes by sickness. 

Q. Will your Highness give directions that a party shall not be obliged to proceed 
at the will of the escort, nor to travel in the heat of the sun, nor in the summer, unless 
they like ? 

A . The strangers shall be masters. From September to May is the time I recom- 
mend for an Enghshman ; but travellers have a fault of generally hurrying a caravan. 

Q. Will you answer for the assistance and guarantee of the King of Burnu ? 

A. Most certainly. 

Q. Would not a small present be acceptable to that sovereign ? 

A. Yes, he would take it as a great compliment. 

Q. What does your Highness think would be most gratifying to him ? 

A. Broad-cloth (but need not be the finest), showy muskets, pistols, daggers, swords, 
and cutlery. 

Q. To what amount should your Highness think it necessary to send of such articles ? 

A . Twelve or fourteen hunched dollars. 

Q. Can your Highness afford protection to a party going to the south-westward ? 

A . Nearly the same as through Burnu. 

Q. Are there many boats passing and repassing that part of the Nile (Niger), 
south of Burnu, and what is their object? 

A. They are numerous, and carry effects and passengers to the several towns on 
the banks of the river. 

Q. What are the names of the towns in that direction your Highness has the greatest 
commerce with ? 

A. In Wangurra, Cuthorra, Cashna, Zangarra, Gooba, Bombarra, Houssa, and 
Tombuctoo, there are always some resident Tripoline merchants. 

Q. Next to Burnu, what place has your Highness most direct communication with ? 

A. Souat, which is the principal station for caravans that proceed to Tombuctoo, 
by way of Gadam. 

Q. What is the form of government at Souat? 

A. Republican, with a sort of head chief, or prince, the same as Houssa and Tom- 
buctoo. 

Q. In what manner do the subjects of your Highness obtain leave to pass those 
countries, at a great distance from your frontier. 

A. The travelling merchants insure themselves, by giving presents — trifling ones — 
to the head of the country they arrive at, who affords them safeconduct to the next. 

Q. How is the usual trade between Tripoli and Tombuctoo conducted ? 

A . It is mostly carried on by Fezzan and Gadam merchants. 

Q. What number of camels does the Tombuctoo caravan usually consist of ? 

A. Not so many as formerly — not above a hundred and fifty: — the caravan to 
Morocco is the largest, as they have not so far to go; it is generally composed of tin. i 
or fuur thousand camels. 

1 1. When does the Fezzan caravan proceed for Tombuctooi 



492 APPENDIX. 

A. The direct road is rather by Gadam, as the nearer one. They set out commonly 
in March, travel greatly by night, and return towards November, when there is a very 
extensive fair held at Gadam, resorted to by immense numbers. 

Q. What are the principal articles of traffic ? 

A. Slaves, gold, gum, hides, dates, barracans, nitre, natron, salt, cotton, cloth, and 
great quantities of a fruit resembling coffee. 

Q. What is the greatest length of time the caravan is without the means of reple- 
nishing their water ? 

A. Eight days. 

Such is the substance of the principal questions I asked of the Bashaw ; whose 
patience and good nature during the long conference, were eminently conspicuous, 
particularly as the discussion of several of them required both time and reference. I 
trust such conduct will be duly appreciated, when it is considered that this prince, by 
the communication thus made, and the free access to his several towns already given to 
me, has fully proved himself above the mean intolerance that actuates the generality of 
Turks ; and more especially as he is acting thus in defiance of the memorable prophecy 
which states that all these countries are to be restored to the Christians. This prediction 
is so universally believed, that the gates of the several towns and fortresses are closed 
every Friday from 11 A.M. till 1 P.M., the day and hour predicted for the event: to this, 
in a great measure, may be ascribed the jealous anxiety with which the Turks watch 
our desire of exploring those countries. 

I remain, your obedient humble servant, 

W. H. Smyth, Commander, R.N. 
To Rear- Admiral Sir C. V. Penrose, K.C.B. 
&c. &c. &c. 

I open this letter again to add, that the Bashaw, pursuant to his promise, directed 
an inquiry to be made relative to the effects of the late Mr. Homeman : and it appears 
that his books, papers, instruments, sealed letters, and clothes, were brought to Tripoli 
by the Bey of Fezzan's orders, and were to be all delivered to a Mr. McDonnagh, 
formerly surgeon to the Consulate, by an intriguing man at the Bashaw's court, a 
Signior Naudi, but his notoriously infamous character leads me to suspect fraud, and 
the Consul-General is now actively and zealously employed in investigating the whole 
transaction. 

Albion, at Malta, Nov. 21, 1817. 
Sie, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th inst. 
communicating the result of your labours at Lebida, as well as other highly interesting- 
particulars, which I shall not fail to transmit to the Lords Commissioners of the Ad- 
miralty by the first opportunity, with the high sense I entertain of your ability and 
indefatigable exertions. 

I remain, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
C. V. Peneose, 
W. H. Smyth, Esq. Rear- Admiral and Commander-in-Chief. 

Co'tnmander of H.M. Ship Aid. 

P.S. — I enclose an acting order for the second master of the Weymouth to act as 
master of the Aid. 

This order was considerately sent in consequence of my warm appro- 
bation of the spirit and skill of Mr. Thomas Elson, of whom mention is 
so often made in this work. Soon afterwards I received another letter 



OPENING OF A ROAD IXTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 493 

from Sir Charles, dated the 23rd of December, 1817, of which the 
following extract may be said to conclude the Lebida correspondence : — 

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th ultimo, and to assure 
you that it gave me sincere satisfaction to observe the manner in which you have con- 
tinued your valuable researches, and also to express my entire approbation of your 
proceedings with the Bashaw of Tripoli. 

I have felt equal pleasure in forwarding a copy of your letter to the Admiralty, as 
I am assured that it will be a further proof to their Lordships of the zeal as well as 
ability, with which you execute the service entrusted to you. 

I forwarded that copy by packet on the 14th instant, and, as the packet now in 
port sails on the 29th, I request you would, previous to that day, furnish me with any 
further information which you may have obtained, and which you deem useful to the 
furtherance of the great object of understanding and exploring the interior of Africa. 

Shortly after my return to England, the First Lord of the Admiralty 
consulted me upon several of the above points, when I dwelt upon the 
advantage of a land journey round the Syrtis {See jxige 376), contempo- 
raneously with my examination by sea. Having been desired to reduce 
my views to writing, the following letter is the residt : — 

35, Soho-square, Dec. 31, 1820. 

My Lord, — In obedience to your Lordship's desire I venture to place before you 
my idea on that part of North Africa lying between Tripoli and Egypt ; and which, 
notwithstanding it constituted one of the most interesting sites of antiquity, is unac- 
countably a perfect blot in the geography of the present day. 

In consequence of a strict attention to the subject, I had reason to think that on 
my visit to Tripoli in 1816, no other knowledge existed of those countries extending 
along the coast from the city of Tripoli to the Arab's tower in Egypt, than what was 
gleaned from the Melpomene of Herodotus — excepting indeed the part now called the 
Gulf of Sidra, which is evidently deduced from the old map in Ptolemy. 

From my numerous inquiries in various quarters, touching the present state and 
resources of those parts, and from the aggregate of a variety of conflicting statements, 
I have reason to imagine that material benefit is likely to accrue from a proper investi- 
gation thereof ; for it appears that there are certainly several harbours almost unknown 
to us, of which the principal are those of Bomba, Toubrouk, and Tabraka ; and my 
representation of them appeared in so favourable a light to that excellent officer, Sir 
Thomas Fremantle, that he directed my utmost attention to them, and to the facilities 
of procuring timber from certain forests reported to exist in that neighbourhood. 

But as the protection of his Highness the Bashaw of Tripoli does not extend beyond 
Derna, and indeed is only precarious at any distance from Mesurata, a thorough in- 
vestigation of the shores of the Syrtis, and the whole of the Cyrenaica, becomes an 
object of serious difficulty, and is, perhaps, impracticable to a Christian, though the 
attainment of it certainly promises the gratification of much geographic and historic 
inquiry. 

I could myself soon fix all the important points on scientific data for the commence- 
ment of a coast survey ; and a person properly qualified, would not only forward the 
hydrography, but, from thence, could continue those journeys and researches that 
would be most conducive to add to our general knowledge ; and from my long ac- 
quaintance with him, I make no hesitation in recommending Lieutenant Lyon as 
singularly eligible for such a mission, from his natural ardour, his attainments, his 
professional habits, and, above all, his very complete assumption of the Moorish eha- 



494 APPENDIX. 

racter. After the naval and military objects are considered, a research could be made 
for the two great Roman roads that led to Cydamis, the present Gadam ; a town, I am 
led to believe, of the utmost importance to travellers in the interior, as being the resort 
of numerous trading caravans. 

The site of the celebrated altars of the Phikeni would form a satisfactory point ; 
for though they appear no longer to have existed in the time of Strabo, their situation 
might, perhaps, be placed by approximation. 

Inquiries might be made respecting the Silphium, a famous shrub which must have 
existed in abundance, as sugar was made from it ; though others report that it bore 
benzoin and asafoetida ; — that marked on the ancient coins bears a strong resemblance 
to the large apocynum which grows on most parts of this coast. 

We have no proof respecting the fossil called sal ammoniac, said by Pliny to have 
been found in great quantity below the sand, in a district of Cyrenaica. 

Rare coins and medallions of the Pentapolis may, perhaps, be procured, of which 
the most valuable are these erroneously named Ophelias, especially when large ; the 
usual types are the head of Ammon, with the Silphium as a reverse, and the legend 
KYPA or BAPK ; but those of the state, and not belonging to any individual city, had 

the word KOINON ; there is also a silver coin with the Punic characters )C V J h 
of tolerable execution. 

Inquiries could also be directed towards the celebrated scarlet dye possessed by those 
countries so many ages, and of which the Cynomosium coccineum is supposed to form 
the principal ingredient. 

Attention could be paid to the petrified palms and fossils in the vicinity of Augila, 
and in fact to the whole detail of the deserts of Lybia. Of these the vicinity of Cyrene 
was reported as fertile, well watered, and possessed of forests and pasturages. It is 
plain to me that the remains of the city of Cyrene (now called Grenna) are extensive, 
and that its famous fountain still affords a constant supply of the purest water ; views, 
plans, and copies of inscriptions therefore, in this important place, appear to promise 
a gratifying illustration of the invaluable writings of Herodotus. 

The situation of the Garden of the Hesperides, reported to have been near Berenice, 
would also be a desirable object ; as would the complete exploration of Taukra, the 
ancient Teuchira, and of Tolometa that formed the Port Barca, which I believe pos- 
sesses fine remains of the magnificence of the Ptolemies. 

After the examination of Cyrenaica and the Deserts of Barca and Augila, the grand 
question of the junction of the Nile and the Niger could be considered ; and, if confi- 
dence, ability, and perseverance are applied, I see no chance of a failure. In fact, I 
must here state my regret that the late expedition for the interior was so hastily formed. 

With a view of further illustrating this matter, I beg leave to subjoin the substance 
of some inquiries I made from the officers of the Bashaw's army, who went on an ex- 
pedition to chastise the Bey of Bengazi, a rebellious son of his Highness, and with 
whom I was on the point of proceeding, but that the operations at Leptis required my 
personal attendance, I have many reasons for placing considerable confidence in their 
replies. 

Q. What towns are there between Ziliten and Mesurata, and what are their names ? 

A . Between Ziliten and Mesurata there are no towns, but frequent remains of large 
buildings. 

Q. What description of buildings ? 

A . The original forms cannot be observed, the Moors have preserved only some wells 
of good water. 

Q. Have you observed any ruins near Ziliten ? 

A . Part of an aqueduct near Wadie Khahan, and a sort of arch a little inland. 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 495 

Q. What is the probable population of Mesurata ? 

A. About 900 or 1000; though the Aga who governs can put 1000 cavalry and 
2000 infantry of the province into a state of service. 

Q. Where are the salterns of Mesurata ? 

A. The principal are between Zafran and Nahini, though there are others along the 
Gulf. 

Q. Is the salt mineral or marine ? 

A . The salt is not mineral, but produced by evaporation in summer ; in winter it 
melts again by more water flowing in. 

Q. But that which I have seen was in long bars. 

A . Yes, they cut it in bars for trading, for it is very hard and solid. 

Q. What great towns are there between Mesurata and Bengazi ? 

A . There is no town or place worthy the name between Mesurata and Bengazi, nor 
from thence to Derna. 

Q. How are the shores of the Gulf of Sidra ? 

A . Generally hard, sandy beach, with a low country adjacent, in some parts very 
rocky. 

Q. Does the gulf marked on this chart, and called Suca, exist ? 

A. There is no gulf of that name ; the army passed close to the sea, where it is 
marked, and the beach is continuous. 

Q. Are there any ruins on the shores of the Syrtis ? 

A . Near the above-mentioned salterns there are frequent ruins ; the most remark- 
able are to the S.E. of Zafran called Elbenia, and those of Medina Sultan. 

Q. What is then appearance ? 

A. The former consists of two pilasters, with bases of gritstone, and Greek inscrip- 
tions much injured. The latter offers vestiges of a large city. There are other ruins at 
Jhimines and Quabia, two days' journey from Bengazi. 

Q. Does the gulf at the bottom of the Syrtis, called Tinch, exist % 

A . It does not ; we still continued along the beach ; there is, however, a large 
maremma or marsh inside where our route led, but it is very hilly beyond it. 

Q. Do you know of any quicksands in that neighbourhood ? 

A . There is a considerable tract of fine impalpable sand that moves with tempests. 

Q. What is the situation of the moving sands, and are there marshes there ? 

A . The moving sands extend from Ain-Agan to Areys, occupying a greater or less 
width along the coast from the sea towards the interior ; but at Albasce there is a long 
streak, stretching many miles inland, very fine, and of the colour of brick, whereas the 
other is white as snow ; there are some very extensive salt-marshes at Ain-Agan and 
Bagomara, two hours S.E. of Manhool. 

Q. What is the nature of the coast in the direction of the moving sands ? 

A . Only the surface of the coast is covered with sand ; below, it consists of a hard 
grit-stone. 

Q. Which is the site of the Garden of the Hesperides ? 

A . They lie about two hours from Bengazi, and have no trees, only a few shrubs 
grow there. 

Q. But what is there remarkable to point the place out ? 

A . Many deep grottoes, some wells of excellent water, and vestiges of canals to 
carry water all over the gardens. 

Q. Is there not wood in the vicinity ? 

A. No timber fit for building, nothing but a grove of stunted cypress. 

Q. But I have heard from the Bey of Derna, Murad Beis, and others, that a large 
forest existed somewhere in that part. 

A. I believe there is further towards Bomba, but we did not go so far. 



496 APPENDIX. 

Q. Have you heard of this forest ? 

A. Very frequently ; and that the wood is fit for large ships. 

Q. What kind of a town is Bengazi ? 

A . Not so nourishing as formerly ; it has a tolerable castle and small port, mud 
houses, and about 1000 inhabitants. 

Q. Are there any vestiges of the ancient Berenice ? 

A . A few slight ones ; — cameos and intaglios are frequently found, and a hill near 
the sea is supposed to contain riches, as gold is often picked up after heavy storms. 

Q. Can refreshments be procured there ? 

A . Sheep, cattle, and corn, but no fruit. 

Q. Why have they not oranges, as they grow so well at Tripoli ? 

A . They never had any, so do not feel the want of them. 

Q. What kind of places are Tolometa and Taukra ? 

A . Taukra is a walled town, with many inscriptions ; but has few things of archi- 
tectural beauty, except some vine branches entwined in low relief on the pieces of a 
pediment of grit, or stone of the country. It is built on the sea-shore, on a plain, 
bounded on the south by stony mountains bearing the low cypress-tree. Tolometa is at 
the foot of the chain of mountains that extends from Bengazi to Bomba ; it offers few 
vestiges, except some columns of gritstone belonging to a Corinthian portico, and the 
tombs of the Kings in the Elysian Fields. 

Q. What is there at Barca, and are there any inhabitants ? 

A . Barca is now only a mountain of stones and ruins, at the head of a fine valley, 
with a great many wells of good water, for which reason it is much frequented by the 
Arabs. 

Q. Are the Arabs as trusty as those of Mesurata ? 

A . No ; they are exceedingly treacherous, and capable of committing murder for a 
mere gilt button. 

Q. Would they respect the usual laws of hospitality 1 

A . Most probably they would, even against their desire. 

Q. Have you seen the harbour called Marza Suza ? 

A . I have seen Suza ; the sea has intersected almost all the town ; there are many 
ruins, but of moveable things there are now only to be seen a few columns of marble, 
granite, and gritstone belonging to its temples. 

Q. Is it easy to reach Cyrene on the side of Bengazi ? 

A. From Bengazi to Cyrene is six summer days' journey, and the road leads through 
cypress woods and fine mountain- valleys ; it is not difficult. 

Q. Is Cyrene far from Derna ? 

A . Cyrene is a long day and a half from Derna, over some stony mountains of ex- 
tremely difficult ascent, through woods of cypresses, and places inhabited by wandering 
Arabs. 

Q. What aspect has the land about here from the sea ? 

A. The sea is almost everywhere bounded by steep mountains of rock, in the fissures 
of which grow cypresses and some other trees. 

Q. What state is Cyrene in. I have heard the town is entire ? 

A. The town is nearly destroyed, but the ruins and isolated tombs, or mausoleae, 
are extensive ; the finest part is the Camp of Mars, on account of the numerous streets 
of tombs cut in the rocky mountains. The various ruins make it extremely easy to 
determine the limits of the city. 

Q. Do you recollect any temples there ? 

A . The ruins of a temple near the fountain are partly buried, and all there is re- 
maining in sight are some columns and several statues, the latter so mutilated, that 
they look like amorphous blocks of marble. Excavation in this part would, probably, 
be very productive. 



OPENING OF A ROAD INTO CENTRAL AFRICA. 497 

Q. Does the fountain still afford good water, and are there any inhabitants in 
Cyrene ? 

A . The fountain always gives abundance of the purest water, for which reason there 
are always upwards of four or five hundred Arab tents in the town. 

Q. What is the population of Derna ? 

A. Emigration and the plague have reduced it to about 360 souls. 

Q. Are there still any troglodytes, or inhabitants of caves, and are they numerous ? 

A . The district between Marza Suza and Cyrene is full of caverns in the very heart 
of the mountains, into which whole families get by means of ropes ; and many are 
born, five, and die, in these dens, without ever going out of them ; their Bedouin re- 
lations in the neighbourhood provide them with food, and there preserve their property 
from the rapine of inimical tribes ; the friendly Arabs collect in these holes a sufficiency 
of water for all their wants. 

Q. What is the disposition of these people ? 

A . They are savage, untractable, and dangerous, the government of the country 
itself never having been able to reduce them. 

Q. Do you consider a landing at Bomba as safe ? 

A . Being situated on the limits of Tripoli and Cairo, it is inhabited by tribes that 
have been driven away by their respective governments, so that they continually 
molest pacific tribes, and the caravans destined for Mecca. 

Such, my Lord, is the sum of the most direct and credible information I have been 
able to collect ; besides which, I have made many other inquiries, and have also con- 
structed a map of the march of the said army, by inference ; but I hope I have shown 
your Lordship that this interesting portion of geography (seated so near to civilized 
Europe), need no longer remain a blank ; and also that its examination may lead to satis- 
factory ulterior results as to the confluence of the Nile and the Niger, and the actual 
state of the level of the countries south of Bournou, compared with Abys- 
sinia and the west coast of Africa. And this, if I may be allowed to express my 
opinion, is the only practicable road to Europeans — for I have ever considered the 
difficulties and diseases incident to the swampy banks of rivers in a tropical climate 
(at all times replete with decomposing vegetable substances), so insurmountable, that I 
have never been surprised at their failure. 

I have the honour to subscribe myself, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient 
humble servant, 

W. H. Smyth, Commander, E.N. 
Right Hon. Lord Viscoimt Melville, 
&c. &c. &c. 



K K 



498 APPENDIX. 



II; 



ON GRAHAM ISLAND. 

THIS is fclie Paper mentioned on page 112; and is extracted from the 
CXXIInd volume of the Philosophical Transactions. H.RH. the 
Duke of Sussex, in submitting it to the Meeting of the Royal Society, 
stated that it was written as part of a report to the Council upon Dr. 
Davy's paper on the same subject, which had been read a few weeks 
before ; but that the Council viewed it as containing so much original 
and important matter, that they had determined upon its being treated 
as a separate communication. — (See the Literary Gazette, No. 786, 
page 90.) 

Some Remarks on an Error respecting the Site and Origin of Graham Island. By 
Captain W. H. Smyth, K.N., F.R.S., F.S.A. Read February 9, 1832. 

In consequence of accounts recently published concerning the rise and progress of 
this island, which I conceive to have been stated materially in error, and in order that 
physical inquiry may receive as exact data as can be afforded, I beg leave to offer the 
following remarks to the Royal Society. 

It was stated, in the first letters which arrived from Malta, that an officer on the 
Mediterranean station was in possession of an old chart, whereon was ■ a shoal with 
only four fathoms on it, and called Larmour's Breakers' — and this being asserted to be 
' within a mile of the latitude and longitude' of the new island, was consequently an- 
nounced as its nucleus. On reading some of these letters I saw at once that the chart 
was mistaken for a valuable document ; but being aware that its particulars were well 
known to navigators, I should not have deemed it to require notice, had not the 
erroneous inference been repeated both in the Journal of the Geographical Society and 
in the Quarterly Review. 

The danger alluded to as existing upon the ' old chart,' was never ascertained or 
verified ; it was only thought to have been seen by Captain Larmour, when in command 
of the Wassanaer, a troop-ship, on the Egyptian expedition. But the same impression 
did not strike all the officers and passengers ; and, on the commander-in-chief despatch- 
ing two or three vessels to examine it for a more detailed report, no shoal-water 
could be found. The present Captain Richard Spencer, C.B., then a lieutenant on 
board the Wassanaer, was one of the officers sent to assist in the search ; and from 
him I had these particulars. Yet the minute which had been forwarded to me from 
the Admiralty, being written in these decided terms — 

< H.M. Ship Wassanaer, 11th of December, 1800, p.m. The island of Pantellaria 
S.W. by W. nine or ten leagues, saw a reef of rocks S.S.E. distant three or four 
miles, extending N.N.W. and S.S.E. , about one mile in length. Hauled up S. by W., 
to clear them. Saw something on the reef like a ship's mast. Bearings by compass.' 

I examined the spot with a rigorous strictness ; and from the various traverses 



ON GRAHAM ISLAM). 499 

which I made in every direction, with the lead going by night and by day, I 
feel prepared to assert, that no reef of the nature described by Captain Larmour in 
1800, and no shoal of four fathoms water, could have existed in 1814. How the said 
1 four fathoms' crept into our charts is best known to the ship-chandlers, who too long 
purveyed to the scientific wants of seamen ; but from the absence of positive testimony, 
from the careful search made by order of Lord Keith, from my own several cruizes, 
and from the material fact of its being in the high road which is annually beaten by 
hundreds of ships, it is not presuming greatly to say, that neither the one nor the other 
had any existence. 

Nor is the assigned place ' within a mile' of the position of the volcanic islet, 
though it may accidentally have been so marked upon the ' sea-cards ;' for it should 
be remembered, that the true site even of the principal headlands around, was not then 
decided. According to the minute just quoted, corrected for magnetic variation, 
Larmour's supposed reef is no less than sixteen miles W. by N. from it, on a part of 
the subaqueous plateau (which I named Adventure Bank), uniting Sicily to Africa by 
a succession of ridges, — about a spot where I found from forty to fifty fathoms of 
water. Graham's Isle, however, is not upon this bank ; it arose between it and a knoll 
some miles to the eastward, which, from a shell brought up by the arming, I called 
Nerita ; and, if the observations which determine the latitude and longitude of the 
stranger as in 37° 8' 25" N. and 12° 43' 50" E. be correct, it must have been elevated 
through more than a hundred fathoms of water. 

In thus doubting the actual existence of the Larmour Shoal, it is not my intention 
to dispute the appearance and disappearance of natural phenomena, nor that stupendous 
alterations may occur by the subsidence and uplifting of strata, — because an obstinate 
scepticism would be absurd, especially in a part of the globe where, to use a well-ex- 
pressed Italian metaphor, the whole ground is ' tremblingly alive.' But it is reason- 
able and proper to question such rumours as have been made without due examination. 
In the instance before us no endeavour was made to establish the truth by either 
shortening sail, lowering a boat, or even getting a cast of the lead ; moreover, they 
were three or four miles from the supposed object, and opinions on board the Wassanaer 
were not at all unanimous. By similar indecision a teasing knot of perils has gained 
random insertion upon our charts, to the disquietude of sea commanders ; but it is a 
fault which is fast disappearing, and it may be trusted that there are few officers who 
would not think themselves liable to the imputation of culpable carelessness, did they 
not seek to verify such ' dangers' as they might accidentally encounter. 

I do not think subaqueous volcanic explosions are of such rare occurrence as is 
generally supposed ; and extremely sudden intumescence may arise from the expansion 
of an inferior lava bed. It is not at all improbable that gaseous fluids and ejectamenta 
may have been seen, before the accumulation of solid matter, protruded from the vent, 
was sufficient to form a crater of eruption. A volcanic apex may become visible, and 
again be quickly destroyed by trituration, the solution of mineral substances, and the 
repressive force of the column of water over the vent. Now, as there was a chance 
that something of the kind had occurred in the neighbourhood assigned to Larmour's 
reef, — breakers having been reported near the same spot by the Greyhound frigate, 
and shoals having been immemorial ly marked there under the names of La Ajuga and 
B. Scoglio, — I laboriously explored the whole vicinity. In examining the chart which 
resulted from this undertaking, it will be found that a knoll, with only seven fathoms 
upon it, was discovered not far from the site of all these reports, and that the Ad- 
venture Bank extends from Sicily nearly to Pantellaria, where the water deepens at 
once from 76 fathoms to no bottom with 375 fathoms of line. A further inspection 
will show that the Phlegrsean islands of Pantellaria and Linosa, have been protruded 
from the greatest depths, where, perhaps, the fires found the least resistance. O 

K K 2 



500 APPENDIX. 

All these considerations led me to suppose that, though the reports were exceed- 
ingly vague, volcanic agency might still have given grounds for them. I therefore 
made particular inquiries, both in Sicily and Pantellaria, as to local earthquakes, and 
whether any volumes of smoke, ferilli, or jets of flame, comminuted ashes, or other 
fragmentary ejectments, had been noticed in that direction ; but I could hear of 
none. Yet we are told, as a 'fact' of weight, that a tradition is current, which 
says : — ' A volcano existed in the same spot about the commencement of the last 
century.' It would be difficult to say how this tradition was preserved amongst a 
people little given to letters ; and I never, in my long residence and systematic re- 
searches at the above place, and in Malta, heard the slightest hint of it. 

I am, therefore, led to the conclusion, — firstly, that no shoal or danger has lately 
existed in that channel, excepting only an occasional overfall in very heavy weather on 
the seven fathom knoll where I anchored H.M. ship Adventure, and which is sufficiently 
near for bearings taken at random, and without suspicion of the existence of a local 
attraction, to be placed in identity with the reports above-mentioned. Secondly, that 
even if what Captain Larmour became persuaded he saw was actually a temporary 
volcanic effect, it had no possible relation to breakers with 'four fathoms' upon them. 
And it follows, that the assertion of Graham Island having been formed by the mere 
' lifting up' of such shoal, must be utterly destitute of foundation. 



501 



INDEX 



Abbreviations, 427 

Ablancourt, good hydrographer, 342 

Abruzzi, provinces of the, 38 

Absyrtides, Adriatic isles, 44 

Abulfeda quoted, 83 

Abu Ze'id, an early traveller, 117 

Abyla, opposite Calpe, 5, 98 

Acade"mie Royale, on Mediterranean, 345 

Acarnania, Adriatic, 50, 53 

Accumulated salt in the sea, 129 

Achelous, river, 50 

Achilles, his shield, 313 

Acro-Ceraunian Promontory, 45 

Acrotiri in Candia, 68 

Acton, Capt., on an eruption, 113 

Adalia Cape, 78 

gulf of and city, 79 

■ its effect on currents, 169 

Adam, Sir Frederic, 44 

Address to Geographical Society, 427 

Admiral Neptune, 429 

Timosthenes, 315 

Admiralty committee, 303 
Adria, or Hadria, 34 
Adrianople, 65 
Adriatic sea, 34 

actions, 135 

currents, 165 

tides, 182 

frozen recorded, 223 

weather, 253 

Advance of chartography, 337 
Adventure Bank, 120, 136, 499 

■ (the ship), 239 

JEdes Hartwellianae referred to, 85 
^Egean Sea, 62, 73, 270 
^gina, gulf of, 61 
^Elian, 221 
^Eolian winds, 250 
Aerial effects, 295 
iEtna, its eruptions, 110 
Africa, north shore of, 186 

laid open, 473 to 497 

African coast feels the current, 161 

tides, 186 

Africus, or S.W. wind, 297 
Agatharcides president of a library, 320 
on the Red Sea, 334 



Agathodasmon, a map-maker, 323 
Agio-Janni, fresh spring, 141 

Saranta, 49 

■ Strati, ancient Nea, 66 

Agricultural produce, 101 
Aid, islet seen from on board, 109 
Aigle, de 1', of the Phcenix, 154 
Aigle wrecked on Zembra, 296 
Aigues mortes, 13 

now inland, 413 

Air disseminated deep at sea, 192 
Akk£, or Akra, 82 
'Akabah-el-Kibir, 86 
Al-Arish torrent, 81 
Albania, province of, 45, 49 

survey of, 401 

Al Bekur, ancient Canopus, 84 

shoal, 334 

Albert, Marquis d', 345 

Alboran rock, 97, 426 

Al Buzema, 97 

Aldebaran, occultation of, 370 

Aleppo earthquake, 107 

Alessio, 45 

Alexandria, longitude, 84, 423 

Alfaquez, peninsula, 9 

Algeria, its extent, 94, 404 

Algerine sloop-of-war lost, 274 

Alghero, 29 

Algiers described, 95 

Al Haratch, 99 

Alicant, vicinity of, 5, 7 

Alicudi, 31 

AH Pasha, 49 

Al-jezirah or the island, 116 

All^gre, captain of the Lloiret, 378 

Alleria, now inland, 30 

Almeria, Spain, 6 

Almissa near Spalatro, 42 

Almunecar, Spain, 6 

Alluvial changes, 73, 80 

Alpheius, ancient R.ufe'ia, 58 

Alpheus at Syracuse, 140 

Alps, they affect meteorology, 217 

Altar to the winds near Sicyon, 278 

Alternating winds, 272 

Alternations of wind, 287 

Altitude and azimuth circle, 381 



502 



INDEX. 



Amaxiki in St. Maura, 54 

Amorgo or Nio isle, 70 

Amplitudes when resorted to, 384 

Amurath III. patron of astronomy, 322 

Analyses of sea water, 129, 294 

Anamtir headland, 79 

Anavolo, a copious spring, 141 

Anatolia, 66 

Anaximander's tables, 314 

Anchovy fishery, 21 

Ancient chartography, 316 

climates, 210 

fears of the Syrtis, 190 

laws for ships, 276 

measures, 323 

observations, 323 

— points compared, 325 

symbols, 429 

writers on fishes, 197 

Ancona, 37, 330 

Ancyreum promontory or anchor, 76 

Andalusia, or Seville, 8 

Andronicus Cyrrhestes, 278 

Andros isle, 70 

Anemometer wanted on board, 262 

Animal life in the sea, 194 

Angrand, M. , consul at Malta, 360 

Animalcules luminous at will, 127 

Annual fall of rain, 217 

Anomalies in tides, 172 

Anti Paxo, 53 

Antibes, 17 

Antivari port, 45 

Antonine Itinerary, 317 

Anzo, porto d', 24 

Apeliotes, or East wind, 279 

Apelles of Sicyon, 51 

Apennines near Ancona, 38, 220 

Ape's hill opposite Gibraltar, 96, 237 

Aphrico rock off Monte Christo, 333 

Apollonius Khodius, on the Syrtes, 189 

Apparatus for trying sea- water, 129 

Appendix, from p. 473 to 500 

Aquileia, 46 

Arabian opinions on the sea, 115 

■ voyagers, 117 

geographers, 326 

Arab's tower, 85 
Arse of Virgil, 136 
Arago on temperature for trees, 218 
Aral sea, its level, 77 
Arcadia cold and foggy, 262 
Arcano del Mare by Dudley, 338 
Archipelagan currents, 167 
Archipelago, whence derived, 62 

its navigation, 72 

its motions, 185 



its etymology, 269 

its prevalent winds, 272 

— its winter, 274 

— various surveys, 347 



Arcturus deemed ungenial, 276 

Area of Italy, 18 

Area of our Dependencies, 102 

of the Mediterranean, 149 

Argentero, mount, 22 
Argentiera isle, 70 
Argostoli in Cephalonia, 54 
Ariel typified by a fire-ball, 268 
Ariona, a subterranean river, 141 
Aristagoras, his copper tablet, 314 
Aristotle on fish, 48 

on level of the sea, 104 

death, 186 

• — on the Etesian winds, 270 

a geographer, 315 

Arkadhia, mountains in, 57 

gulf of, 58 

Aries, city of, 14 

Arno, mouth of the, 21 

Arnold, Dr., on Carthagena, 178 

on climate, 219 

Arrian geographer to Hadrian, 317 
Arta, gulf of, 49, 166 

Artesian well at Venice, 47 

Arts in Egypt, 317 

Arzila in Morocco, 99 

Asinara and N.W. of Sardinia, 396 

Aspra-Spitia, 51 

Aspri Thalassa or Mediterranean, I 

Aspropotamo, 50 

Athens, successive changes, 411 

Athos, mount, or Agionoros, 65 

Atlantic communicates, 2 

current towards Gibraltar, 158 

■ winds and currents, 427 

Atlas, mount, snow-clad, 96 
Atmosphere, nature of, 230 
Atoko, 55 

Attention devoted to latitudes and longi- 
tudes, 172 
Attica overflowed by a deluge, 74 

climate of, 269 

Augusta town and harbour, 398 
Austin, the late Admiral, 274, 284 
Austrian staff, treaty with, 362 
Author's surveys detailed, 353 

maritime positions, 431 to 470 

Avenger lost near Galita, 93 

Avlona, Adriatic, 45 

in Syria, 82 

Awful neglect of chartwrights, 334 
Axia, or Naxia, 69 
Ayala, historian of Gibraltar, 236 
Ayrouard's Atterages, 345 
Azimuths, how determined, 385 
Azof, sea of, 77 

sea of, has contracted, 78 

sea of, volcanic, 107 

sea of, Palus Meeotis, 124 

sea of, well sounded, 148 



INDEX. 



503 



Back-strap Bay, 4 

Bacler Dalbe in 1802, 348 

Bacon's Historia Yentorum, 272 

Bahr-rum, Mediterranean, 1 

Baise, 26 

Balearic islands, 10, 123, 161 

Baratto, 21 

Barbary, its extent, 89 

volcanic, 106 

partly a blank, 367 

information on, 494 to 497 

Barcelona, 9 

Barcelonette, 17 

Barge at Rome, 23 

Barkah, desert of, 85 

Barletta, 37 

Barometer accompanies tide, 172 

by Professor Miller, 212 

zero, 214 

depressed by S.W. winds, 234 

its value, gulf of Lyons, 244 

felt tbe Bora, 259 

Barrington, Hon. D., on climate, 221 
Bartolommeo on Arcbipelago, 328 
Bassam river contains lakes, 85 
Basilicata surveyed Candia, 337 
Basilisk forced from ber ancbors, 236 
Basin of tbe Adriatic, 46 

of tbe Mediterranean, 123, 136 

Bastia in Corsica, 29 
Bathi port, in Ithaca, 108 
Baudrand, bydrograpber, 341 
Bauza, Spanish bydrograpber, 175, 349 
Bayas river, Iskanderoon, 81 
Beacbes, bard, 31 

bard, 36 

yielding fresb water, 142 

changeable, 163 

Beaufort, Sir F., introductory letter 

quoted, 80 

on currents, 168, 186 

wounded at Ayyis, 350 

Beaufort's Karamania, 350 
Beaupr^'s work not sbown, 364 
Beaver on Mediterranean, 355 
Beechy, Lieut., at Tripoli, 189 

quoted, 88 

on Hygrom, 293 

Beechey, Messrs., appointed, 376 
Beechey's, Lieut., force and work, 377 

progress interrupted, 377 

Beirut, 82 

Belleisle, off Cape de Gata, 332 
Bellin, Ingenieur de la Marine, 346 
Belzoni offered bis services, 376 
Benghazi, its produce, 87 
Benincasa of Ancona, 330 
Beniolid, in the interior, 482 
Benjemma, range of, 33 
Bentinck, Lord W., 20 
Bentu de sob with lightning, 249 



Berenice, vestiges of, 496 
Berghaus on drainage, 143 
Berwick lost her masts, 248 
Bianco reef, Corfu, 333 
Bias river, 59 

Biot on deep sea-water, 133 
Birazones, or S.W. gales, 239 
Birt's buoy and nipper, 390 
Bizerta, the Venice of Barbary, 93 
Black Sea and Dardanelles, 2, 76 

steady level, 144 

sometimes frozen, 188 

terrors, 280 

Blockading fleet, 16 

Blucher packet, foundered, 305 
Blue rays most refrangible, 126 
Bocca Silota, near Negropont, 71 
Boccbe di Cattaro, 42 
Bceotia overflowed by a deluge, 74 
Boeotian winters severe, 269 
Bolbatic mouth of Nile, 84 
Bombab brought into notice, 86 
Bon, cape, or Ras-Adar, 91 
Bonaccia a frequent term, 247 
Bondelmonte in the 15th century, 328 

on the Cyclades, 329 

Bonifaccio in Corsica, 29 

Bora experienced in Lissa harbour, 257 

described, 40 

its effect on currents, 165 

its surcharge of water, 184 

its progress, 256 

Boreas, or north wind, 279 
Borings of marine animals, 81 
Bosphorus weather, 280 

, Thracian, 75 

Bottom of the Mediterranean, 134 

Boudrum, or Kos, 67 

Bouillon la Grange on sea- water, 127 

Boundary of Asia Minor, 80 

Boundaries of Egypt, 85 

Bournabad, suburb of Smyrna, 67 

Bowles, director-general of mines, 223 

Brazza isle, Adriatic, 44 

Breislak on geology, 27 

Breguet's Compteur, 380 

Brewster's formula on temperature, 218 

Brilliancy of the Mediterranean, 294 

Brindisi, 37 

British dependencies, 101 

British Museum rich in charts, 329 

Bromine traced in sea- water, 132 

Brondolo, 48 

Bua isle, near Trau, 42 

Budua, in Dalmatia, 41 

Buffon's theory on the Mediterranean, 

118 
Buonaparte, Jerome, his fleet pursued, 

240 
Bura and Helice swallowed up, 52 
Burj-er-Rus, pyramid of skulls, 187 



504 



INDEX. 



Butrinto, 49 

Burrasche or mountain storms, 247 

Byzantium, 75, 321 

Cabezos dangerous, 389 

Cabrera, isle of, 10 

Cadamosta's maps, 16th century, 330 

Cadiz, or Gadir, 4 

Csesar on spring tides, 174 

a meteorologist, 219 

■ on Castor and Pollux, 267 

ordered a survey, 317 

Cagliari, 29 
Calabria, 35, 400 

■ mountain storms, 247 

Calamis, 49 

Calamota canal, 42 

Caligula's bridge, 104 

Calms, or bonaccia, 247 

Calpe, or Gibraltar, 4, 119 

Calvi in Corsica, 29 

Camelford, Lord, of the Charon, 347 

Campagna, pestilent air of, 224 

Campana on the tides, 182 

Campanella cape, 25 

Campidano shows the mirage, 289 

Canachi, pilot of Patmos, 331 

Canal of Mahmudiyeh, 85 

Candia, 67 

Canea, port of Candia, 68 

Cannes, or Napoule, 17 

Cape Bon, line of deep water, 120 

Capo d'Istria, 39 

Capmani's ' Questiones,' 327 

Capra reef, Cephalonia, 333 

Capraja isle, 22 

Capri isle, 25 

Cardinal points, ancient, 278 

Carmel, mount, a look out, 285 

Carniola, 46 

Carthagena, Spain, 6, 394 

Carthage, its ruins, 92 

Caspian, its level, 77 

compared with Mediterranean, 



138 



sea described, 117 
described by Herodotus, 315 



Cassidaigne shoal, 333 

Cassini on the Mediterranean, 153 

sent to the Levant, 342 

Cassini's Triangulation, 347 
Cassis, town of, 15 
Castel Sardo, 29 

■ Tornese fortress, 57 

Castor and Pollux, a meteor, 267 
Casualties by lightning, 305 to 307 
Cataclysm, near Salonica, 65 
Catalogue of surveys, 393 
Catalonian mountains, 5 

population, 8 

Cattaro, Bocche di, 41, 401 



Caucasus, and other E. mountains, 232 

influences the wind, 281 

Caunus, ancient seaport, 80 
Causes of geological changes, 105 
Caution respecting the Faro, 181 
Caution as to dangers, 387 
Cavaliere, cape, 79 
Cavallinis, chartists of Leghorn, 339 
Cellarius, his unjust censure, 353 
Censure on Ptolemy, undue, 353 
Central currents, 164 

portion of Mediterranean, 232 

Centum-cellse, 23 

Cephalonia, 52 

Cephyssus, 63 

Cerigo isle, 41, 52 

Cerigotto, 56 

Cervi, isle of, 60 

Cette, 14 

Cettina river, 42 

Ceuta, or Sebtah, 5, 96, 98 

tide hour, 175 

Chabert on wrong latitudes, 340 

Marquis de, 345 

Chain pervading Italy and Greece, 232 
Changes of coast, 9, 36 

of Roman coast, 26 

of climate, 223 

of commerce, 311 

in constant action, 352 

in names discussed, 408 to 414 

of site, 415 

Charles V. humiliated, 298 
Chasms suddenly formed, 112 
Chartography advanced, 337 

adopted, 392 

Charts, list of, 395 to 405 

methodized, 373 

Charybdis, or Galofaro, 181 

Chazelles, ' Hydrographe,' 340 

Chemical changes, vast, 114 

Cherso, fossil bones, 41 

Chevalier, Captain, 340 

Chevallier, Professor, on Barometers, 212 

Chevrette, Captain Gauttier, 260 

officers, 360 

rendezvous at Malta, 420 

Chiavari, 20 

Chimara, mount, 46 

Chioggia, 37, 48 

Chios, our commerce with, 3 

Choiseul, favoured surveys, 346 

Chorographic arrangement, 424 

Christian slaves, anecdote, 90 

• — tribes in Africa, 481 

topography, 325 

Chronometric runs to Ionian Islands, 362 

■ bases, 379 

■ rates, how used, 380 

Chrysse, in Pausanias, 73 
Cicero de Republic;!, 224 



INDEX. 



505 



Cicero on the Etesise, 271 

commends Dicsearchus, 316 

Ciotat, town of, 15 

Circello, monte, 24 

Circius of Lucan, or Mistral, 245 

Civilization due to Italy, 17 

of Algeria, 94 

Civita Vecchia, 23 
Clark's hydrometer, 131 
Clarke on the Black Sea, 281 
Classic surveys, 314 
Claudos, now Gozze, isles, 67 
Climates, the Earth divided into, 116 
Climate of the Mediterranean, 210 

steadiness of, 219 

Cloud bank, off Santa Maura, 108 
Clouds, prognostics of wind, 238 

their height in summer, 240 

their colour, 287 

Cluverius quoted, 29 
Coast of the Var, 17 

changes, various changes, 113 

contour, widely different, 138 

Cocozzo, monte, 26 

Ccelo- Syria of the Eomans, 82 

Colas, a celebrated diver, 181 

Cold winters recorded by ancients, 220 

Collingwood, Ld., in the gulf of Lyons, 2 42 

Colmars, 17 

Colonna, cape, 62 

Colossus of Rhodes, 68 

Colour of sea-water, 125 

Columbretes, isles of, 12, 241 

Columbus aided by previous errors, 329 

Columella on climate, 220 

Columns of Hercules, 115 

Comacchio, 37 

Comet observed in 1819, 257 

Comino, 33 

Commerce, Genoese, 20 

of the Mediterranean, 100, 352 

Comparison of rivers, 146 

barometric levels, 214 

Compass reform, 385 
Compazant, or Corpo Santo, 267 
Conditions of evaporation in Mediter- 
ranean, 149 
Conejara, isle of, 12 
Conero, mount, 37 
Conductors invaluable, 303 
Congelation, line of, in Spain, 223, 232 
Constantinople, 74, 410 
Contessa, guff of, 65 
Continental islands, 137 
Coode, Admiral, on lightning, 304 
Cook and others puzzled by the needle, 384 
Copeland, commander of Mastiff, 389 

sent to the Levant, 405 

Cordova, city of, 8 

Corfu, 52, 166, 260 
Corinth, 50, 166, 185 



Cormorant lost on an old shoal, 335 

Cornaro maps, 330 

Corno, monte, 38 

Coronelli, Venetian cosmographer, 341 

Corrections by Strabo, 321 

Corruption of Greek names, 411 

Corsica, the sixth island, 28, 29 

a pelagic island, 137 

surveyed by the French, 378 

and Tuscan islands, 396 

Corsican weather, 248 

Cortez lost his jewels, 301 

Cosmus, Indicus Pleustes, 325 

Costume changed in Turkey, 487 

Cosulich, his Portulano of Adriatic, 259 

Countess of Chichester nearly wrecked, 261 

Cowageux lost in a Levanter, 237 

Crau, stony desert, 14 

Crescentio, a papal engineer, 337 

Creta, the third island, 29 

Creux, cape, 13 

Croatia, east of the Adriatic, 40 

Crusades, their effects, 3, 94, 299 

Crustacea, list of, 295 

Cubic contents of Mediterranean, 149 

Cuelbis, chorographer, 344 

Culloden on Al Bekur shoal, 335 

Currents at Gibraltar, 130, 136 

of the Mediterranean, 151 

off Karamania, 168 

■ in the Faro, 179 

Curzola, Adriatic, 44 
Cyaneae, volcanic islets, 76 
Cyclades of the Archipelago, 69 

or Dodekanesi, 411 

Cydnus of Cleopatra, 80 

Cyprus, the fourth island, 29, 82, 107, 

168, 282 
Cyrenaica, ruins there, 485, 494 
Cyrene or Grennah, 86 

Dalmatia, 41, 402 
Damage by lightning, 302 
Damietta, 84 
Daniell on meteorology, 214 

on the atmosphere, 231 

Dante, his tenth guff, 22 

on the Mediterranean, 322 

D'Anville on Ptolemy's error, 321 
Dardanelles, 2, 65, 74, 280 

of Lepanto, 51 

Dates and grapes thrive in Syria, 218 
Datum on level of inner sea, 191 
Daussy on Palermo longitude, 419 to 423 
Davy, Dr., on Graham isle, 111, 498 
Davy's theory on colour, 126 
Dead Sea, its low level, 137 
Decanter experiment on sea water, 157 
Decomposition of rocks, 388 
Deep waters remain quiet, 114 
Deepest water sounded, 128, 147, 390 



506 



INDEX. 



Deine or Anavolo, a spring, 142 
Delos isle, now Sdili, 69, 70 
Delphi, 51 

, mount, 63 

Delta formed by the Nile, 84, 287 
De Luc's hygrom, 293 
Deluge formed the Archipelago, 74 
Demosthenes on lending, 276 
Density of sea- water tried, 157 
Depth of Adriatic, 35 

of the Black Sea, 76 

close under Stromboli, 111 

■ of the Mediterranean, 120 

in the Strait, 159 

Des Cartes on the Etesia, 270 

Deterioration of climate, 224 

Detritus carried in quantity, 136 

Dew in the Mediterranean, 292 

Dey of Algiers, 299 

Djimova, or Tzimova, 59 

Dicsearchus of Messina, 316 

Difference between current and tide, 152 

Diminution of heat in deep water, 124 

Dinocrates on Mount Athos, 65 

Diocletian, his palace, 42 

Diodorus Sic. on the Syrtis, 288 

Dionysius Pariegetes, 69 

Dip sector lent by Gauttier, 382 

Dip of horizon, 426 

Discussion of Barometers, 213 

Divisions of the Mediterranean, 123 

Dobrena, 51 

Dolmeitah, ancient Ptolemais, 87 

Dolomieu on level of the sea, 105 

Donati on the Adriatic, 134 

Doria's aphorism on Mediterranean, 177 

Dragomestre, 50 

Drainage by rivers, 143 

Drepano, gulf of Lepanto, 52 

Drino, 45 

Dudley's Arcano del Mare, 338 

Duino, castle, 39 

Dulcigno, 45 

Dummer's Quarter Waggoner, 343 

Durazzo, Adriatic, 45 

Dust far at Sea, 294 

Early surveys, 310 
Earthquakes, 107 

synchronous, 108 

of 1783, 179 

East coast of the Morea, 61 

wind agreeable in Attica, 269 

Eastern division of the Mediterranean, 232 
Ebro, river of the, 8 

Ebullitions of gas, 143 
Ecclesiastes meteorological, 286, 288 
Echinades, Adriatic, 50 
Edrisi's account of the straits, 116 
Egg plant, a prognostic, 277 
Egripo channel, or Euripus, 63 



Egripus, bridge of Negropont, 185 
Egypt, 83, 218, 403 
Egyptian surveys, 316 
Ehrenberg on Infusoria, 293 
Elanitic gulf, three islets, 334 
Elba, 22, 336 

Electricity strong in Ionia, 263 
Electric agency in water-spouts, 266 

fire in balls, 268 

discharges, 302 

• telegraph, 303 

Eleia, plains of, 58 
Elias, mount, height of, 63 
Elijah's remark on the cloud, 285 
Elymbo, the ancient Olympus, 64 
Embasmos described, 185 
Emerald frigate at Gibraltar, 156 
Emo, Admiral, Face de Mare, 345 
Emperor's castle, 300 

Enghia, gulf of, 62 
English possessions, 100 

researches, 342 

tourists in Greece, 348 

Englishmen with Doria, 299 
Entreprenante reef sought, 388 
Eolian islands, 31 

Ephesus, now Ayasolook, 73, 411 

Epidamnus, its site, 35 

Epirus, 45, 262 

Equatorial winds, 233 

Equinoxes, winds very changeable, 23 

Eratosthenes on the Archipelago, 74 

• apud Strabo, 122 

systematic, 319 

Ercole, port, 23 
Eruptions, submarine, 107 
Etcheuchoi river, 79 
Etna, its height, 30 

visible at Malta, 295 

Etesiae, meltem of the Turks, 270 
Eubcea, the fifth island, 29 
Eudoxus of Cyzicus, 316 
Eufemia, St., 25 

Eugalmos described, 185 
Euripides' naval figure, 273 
Euripus at Negropont, 185, 410 
Europa point, 175 
Eurus, south-east wind, 279 
Euxine said to have burst out, 119 

favourable to strangers, 280 

circumnavigated by Arrian, 318 

Evaporation, amount of, 145 

re-examined, 147, 150 

Exmouth, Lord, his squadron, 90, 188, 

287, 292, 359 
Experiments on temperature, 125 
Exports of the Sporades, 71 

of Adalia, 79 

of Ghuzza, 82 

of Cyprus, 83 

of Tripoli, 89 



INDEX. 



507 



Exports from Mostaza, 98 

— table of, 100 

Ezekiel's time alluded to, 311 

Fahrenheit's improved thermometers, 220 

scale generally used, 124 

Fair wind, North and South, 260 
Falconer quoted on water-spouts, 266 
Falsehood on Entreprenante rock,* 389 
Fano island, 53, 392 
Famagusta port, in Cyprus, 82 
Faraday on sea- water, 133 
Farina, cape, 91, 93 
Faro, of Messina, 178, 356 

current, 163 

winds, 250 

Fata Morgana described, 289 
Fauvel on sea levels, 152 
Favignana isle, 32 
Favonii of the Romans, 271 

Fead, Captain, his letter quoted, 242 

Felicudi isle, 31 

Ferrara, 38, 48 

Feuille'e, astronomer to Louis XIV., 342 

Fezzan, Bey of, 482 and 485 

Filfla rock, 33 

Fire-balls, 268 

Firenzo, San, 29 

Fisheries in the Mediterranean, 196 

Fitz Roy, Capt., observed barometers, 212 

on lightning, 309 

Fleet off Cape Sicie, 243 

Flinders on the magnetic needle, 384 

Flora frigate wrecked in a bora, 256 

Fluvial system, table, 143 

Fogs in the Syrtis, 290 

Forbes, Prof. E., on fish, 193, 195 

Formentera, isle of, 12 

Fortis, the Abbate, 48, 135 

Forty Thieves, ships so called, 244 

Fossil bones in the Adriatic, 41 

Fothergill, Captain, liked fog, 296 

Fox rock strictly sought, 388 

Foz, gulf of, 15 

Fra Mauro, the cosmographer, 85, 326 

France, its coast, 13, 394 

Franklinian theory, 263 

Fredericsteen, H.M.S., 186, 350 

Frejus now inland, 13 

French Geographical Society, 116 

■ surveyors, 340 

results in the Archipelago, 368 

Fresh springs in the Mediterranean, 140 

Freshes in rivers, how produced, 163 

Fretum Herculeum, 6, 158 

Fullonica, 21 

Fulminante struck on an old shoal, 335 

Fumosa reef, Baia bay, 334 

Fundus maris, 134 

Furiani, or S.S.E., near the Po, 2^4 

Fursung or parasanga, 326 



Gadbuey on weather, 276 

Gaeta, 25 

Gaio, port, 53 

Gaio rock, near Paxo, 333 

Galaxidi, 51 

Gale endured by H.M.S. Melpomene, 240 

of 1840 in the Levant, 284 

Galiano's chronometric runs, 349 
Galilee, its sea, 82 
Galita island, 93 

has an easterly current, 165 

Galleys of Arragon, 327 

GalH rocks, 26 

Gallipoli, port of, 74 

Gallo, cape, 58 

Galofaro, or Charybdis, 182 

Gargano, Testa dl, 37 

Gargarah, Mount Ida, Q6 

Garrisons of our dependencies, 103 

Gases found in sea-water, 133 

Gaseous ebullitions, 143 

Gastuni, 57 

Gata, Cape de, 6 

Gaul, its severe winters, 220 

Gauttier's points and Smyth's, 147 

Gauttier, Capt, 359, 361, 366, 369, 420 

points, 460 to 470 

Gen-Argentu, mount, 29 
General chart of the Mediterranean, 393 
Generation of earthquakes, 110 
Genesis, book of, quoted, 310 
Genoa, 19, 395 

Geodetic angles from a base, 383 
Geographia Nubiensis, 115 
Geographical Journal on Graham Is- 
land, 112 
Geographical Soc. Journal quoted, 12, 153 
Geographical points, 431 to 470 
Geological changes, 19, 46, 80, 105, 121 

Roman, 26 

— in Syria, 82 

in Barbary, 88 

Geology of the Liparis, 32 

Morea, 60 

Black Sea, 77 

Archipelago, 72 

Geometers under Alexander, 116 
Gerardo's route to the Holy Land, 341 
Ghaziyah, or gust of wind, 284 
Ghermano, 51 

Ghirrza, researches at, 483, 489 
Ghozzo, its exports, 82 
Giagiapha, fishery, 58 
Gianuti, isles, 25 
Gibbs's analysis of dust, 294 
Gibraltar, its height, 4 

strait, 119, 159, 161 

meteorology, 217, 310 

Giglio isle, 22, 396 

Gioja, 25 

Girgenti, and views of, 399 



508 



INDEX. 



Glasgoio frigate at Corfu, 108 

Glyki, 49 

Golden-horn, 75 

Golfe de Venise, by Bellin, 346 

Goletta of Tunis, 92, 187 

Gominitse, 49 

Gondola of Venice, 39 

Gore, Sir John, 264 

Gorgoglione's Portolano, 344 

Gorgonaisle, 22 

Gosselin on Geography, 324 

Gouffier, Count, in Archipelago, 348 

Gourjean, 17 

Go vino, port, 53 

Gozo, 33 

Gozze isles, Archipelago, 67 

Grabusa, port of Candia, 68 

Graham isle, off Sicily, 111 and 498 

Granitola, cape, 31 

Grasswrack indicates shoals, 379 

Graves, Captain, in the JEgean, 195, 405 

on Malta longitude, 420 

Gravity of sea- water, table, 131 
Great Sea of the Scriptures, 1 
Greater Syrtis, perils there, 288 
Greece, western, 48 
Greek names, how transfused, 409 

pilots, corrupt names, 412 

Green Sea, Arabian name, 1 

Gregale, or N.E. wind, 249, 251 

Grossa isle, Adriatic, 44 

Guadalaviar, river of, 7 

Gulfs of Egina and Corinth compared, 152 

Gulf stream in the Atlantic, 159 

Guns fired at water-spouts, 266 

Gut, or strait, 5 

Gulf of Valencia, 239 

gale described, 245 

Gyrations cause a siphon, 264 

Habits of fishes, 195 

Hakluyt on commerce, 3 

Hall's ' Patchwork,' 30 

Halley, theory of evaporation, 144 

hydrographical mission, 344 

Hamadryad stranded, 298 
Harmattan announced by a cloud, 246 
Harris, Sir S., on lightning, 305 
Health of Eome, 224 
Hebrew word dag, or fish, 196 
Hebrews learnt surveying, 312 
Hedissarum coronaria, 33 
Height of waves estimated, 242 

■ mountains, 391, 425 

Helena, or St. Elmo's fire, 268 
Hellespontic or N.E. winds, 270 
Hellespontus, Dardanelles, 124 
Herculaneum, 26 
Hermenegildo wrecked, 156 
Herodotus on the Adriatic, 34 
on the aspropotamo, 50 



Herodotus on the sea of Azof, 148 

quoted on Euripus, 185 

records cold winters, 220 

a valuable geographer, 315 

Hesiod, Boeotian winters of, 269 

a geographer, 313 

Hesperides, where situated, 495 
Hexamili, isthmus of, 410 
Hipparchus, an able astronomer, 320 
Hippocrates a geographer, 315 
Hirondelle cutter wrecked, 296 
Homem, hydrographer 16th century, 331 
Homer's evil vapour, Iliad v., 251 

a good geographer, 312 

Horace on the streets of Eome, 222 

on the Adriatic, 34 

Hornemann's effects, 490, 492 

Horizon at sea, 425 

Hot springs, 106 

Hurd, Capt., consulted with, 354 

official note on the Adriatic, 364 

Hydro-geology of the Liparis, 32 
Hydrostatic pressure, 151 
Hydrographic Office in 1813 

opinions, 373 

415 



355 



Hyeres, bay of, 16 
Hygrometer by De Luc, 214 

wet and dry bulb, 293 

Hymettus corrupted into Matto, 411 

Ice in the Euxine, 168 

Ichthyology of the Mediterranean, 192 

Ichthyological table, 199 

Ida, now Psitoriti, 67 

Idrisi quoted, 86 

Igneous regions, 106 

Iliaco, river, 57 

Iliad quoted on winds, 277 

IUyricum, 45 

Ilyssus, 63 

Imbattu, or sea breeze, 249, 282 

Incoronata, Adriatic, 44 

Increase of land, 47 

Indications of the scirocco, 252 

of winds by barometer, 298 

Indraught at Gibraltar, 158 
Instruments in 1812, 212 
Interior of Barbary, 482 
Inundations of the Nile, 169 
Invertebrata of the JEgean, 195 
Iodine supposed to colour sea- water, 126 

traced in sea- water, 132 

Ionian sea, 49, 124 

islands, 52, 102 

currents, 166 

sea, its tides, 184 

winds, 260 

Islands of first importance, 362 

Islands, 402 

Ioura island, ancient Jos, 64 



INDEX. 



509 



Isaiah on the Sarab, 288 
Ischia, isle, 25 
Iskanderdn, gulf of, 78 

unhealthy, 82 

Islands now inland, 13 
Islet off Cephalonia, 109 
Isogenic curves, 425 
Istria, .39, 400 
Italian islands, 28 
Italy, western, 17, 395 
Ithaca, 52 
Ithacan squalls, 261 
Itinerary of A ntonine, 318 
Iviza, isle of, 11 

Jacob's prophecy, 310 

Jaffa, Joppa, 82 

Janizary, cape, Sigeu/m, 66 

Jason's fleet, 48 

Jebel Akhdar, mountains, 86 

Jerbah, island, 90, 187 

Jeremiyah, bight of, 99 

Jesuits' survey of Provence, 344 

Johnson, superintendent of compasses, 385 

Jomard, geographical researches, 328 

Jonah's great fish, 196 

Jordan river, 82, 137 

Joshua quoted, 83, 312 

Julian Alps send the Boras down, 255 

Jupiter Serapis, 27 

Justinian interfered with navigation, 313 

Jyhoon river, 80 

Kaiapha fishery, 58 
Kaisarijah, 82 
Kakara, under water, 80 
Kakosouli, 49 
Kalam^ki, 62 
Kalamata, 59 
Kalavria, 62 
Kalavryta unhealthy, 52 
Kaloyeri rocks, 71 
Kandela port, 50 
Kassandra promontory, 64 

gulf of, 65 

Kastelorizo port, 79 

Katakolo cape, 57 

Kater's compass, boat-bearings, 386 

Kara-agatch port, 78 

Kara-dutash, black rock, 80 

Karamania, 78, 162 

by Beaufort, 350 

Karlopago, 40 

Karnia, 50 

Karystus, 63 

Keats, Sir R. G., 99, 335, 353 

Keith, Lord, 78, 98 

Kempthorne on the Mediterranean, 342 

Kenkries, 62 

Kerka river, 41 



Kervasara port, 49 

Khabs Gulf, Lesser Syrtis, 89 

its tides, 187 

Khamsin, or south wind, 285 
Khelidonia cape, 79 
Khillidromi islands, 64 
Khimara, mount, 45 
Khosar, or Euxine sea, 118 

King's survey of Magellan's strait, 405 

Kissano, Mount Ossa, 64 

Kitries, 59 

Klarenza, ruins of, 57 

Knights of St. John, 32, 299 

Kolokythia, gulf of, 60 

Koluri, or Salamis, 62 

Konello, cape, 58 

Kordn, gulf of, 59 

Kor6n quoted on mirage, 288 

Kos, gulf of, 67, 73 

Krio, cape, Cnidus, 66 

Kriti, or Candia, 67 

Kurzolari, group of islands, 50, 55 

Kyamil Bey, ruler of Corinth, 51 

Labeschade winds, 162 
Lagosta, Adriatic, 44 
Laide no longer an island, 73 
Lakes dried by nature, 65 

explored by the French, 85 

— ■ do not burst suddenly, 118 

Land emerged from the sea, 122 

squalls, or raggiature, 247 

and sea breeze at Corfu, 260 

carriage from India, 311 

Lannoy on Egypt and Syria, 328 
Larmour shoal, 499 

Lastua in Dalmatia, 41 
Latakia, 82 

Lateral set of the current, 156 
Latitudes reckoned in Stadia, 323 

and elevation form climate, 232 

observed on shore, 381 

Laurens on sea water, 132 

Laurus nobilis, Linn., 221 

Lautrec, General, encamped at Baise, 228 

Lavagna, 20 

Law of storms, its development, 244 

Laws, maritime, from Rhodes, 68 

of atmospheric phenomena, 211 

for shipping, 276 

Lead and look-out not enough, 352 

Leading winds at Gibraltar, 301 

Leake, on the Zarethra, 1 42 

Leander's Tower, 75 

Lebanon influences the wind, 283 

Lefkimo shoal in old surveys, 335 

Leghorn, 21, 409 

Lelewel, geographical researches, 328 

Lemnos, Stalimini, 65 

Length and breadth of Mediterranean, 139 

Le Noir's repeating circle, 366 



510 



INDEX. 



Le Noir's dip-sector, after Wollaston's,'382 

Leopard lost in Cagliari Bay, 249 

Lepanto, gulf of, 45, 50, 166, 412 

Leptis magna, 359, 489 

Leros isle, 71 

Lesbos the seventh island, 29, 71 

Lesina, Adriatic, 37, 44 

Lethada, cape, 63 

Levanso, 32 

Levant winds, their effects, 4 

trade, 62 

basin, 78, 120, 136, 232 

Levanter, or Solano, dangerous, 235 
Levanto, directory by, 339 
Level of Mediterranean, 104, 116 
Leuca, Sta. Maria di, 36 
Leucadia, 52 

Libeccio, S.W., or Labbetch, 297 
Libs, S.W. wind, 280 
Liburnides, Adriatic isles, 44 
Libyan coast bold-to, 121 
Liebig on hyper-critics, 393 
Ligazzi, or local currents, 165 
Lighthouses numerous, 351 
Lightning intense in Ionia, 263 

— sheet, and water-spouts, 266 

accidents by, 302 

Ligurian Apennines, 19 

Lingua di Bagascia, 79 

Linguetta, true bearings, 392 

Linnasan nomenclature adopted, 198 

Linosa, island of, 399 

Lipari islands, 31, 398 

Liquefaction of gases by pressure, 133 

Liquids, their laws, 105 

Lisan el Kahpeh, 79 

Lisbon earthquake, 107 

Lissa, Adriatic, 44 

Lithada isles, 64 

Lithodomus, where found, 27 

Livadostro, 51 

Livy on plague, so called, 228 

Llobregat, river of the, 9 

Lloiret, French surveying brig, 377 

Logarithmic comparison of evaporation, 148 

Lombardy, 47 

Longitudes by the ancients, 323, 369 

of Palermo Observatory, 417 

Longo Sardo, 29 

Looming by fog, 291 

Loretto, 37 

Losses by lightning, 305 to 307 

Lossin, fossil bones, 41 

Lover's leap at Leucadia, 107 

Lower Egypt, its climate, 285 

Lubnam or Lebanon, 81 

Lucan's prediction on the Syrtis, 122, 190 

Luccio, De, quoted on the Adriatic, 135, 

165, 349, 362 
Lucretius describes the Prester, 264 
Luminosity of sea-water, 126 



Lunars, why not to be depended on, i 

Luni, Marinella di, 21 

Lupo, hydrographer in 1600, 331 

Lusieri, Lord Elgin's artist, 269, 278 

Lutke on Malta longitude, 420 

Lybia, coast of, 287 

Lyell, Peter, Murad Re'is, 88 

Sir Charles, on sea- water, 130 

his Principles of Geology, 160 



Lykddamo, mount, 58 
Lyon, Captain, an Arabic scholar, 376, 493 
Lyons, gulf of, feels a current, 162, 241 
Lysippus of Sicyon, 51 

Macaeska, small port, 42 

Maccalubi springs, 32 

Macculloch, Dr., on malaria, 225 

Macmichael on sea- water, 127 

Macronisi, 63 

Maddalena, La, 29 

Maestrale, or N. W. wind, 248 

Maggiore, monte, 40 

Magnetic deviations, 384, 425 

Mahmoud Pasha, 43 

Mahon in Minorca, 394 

Mama, resort of pirates, 59 

Ma'inotes, people of Ma'ina, 59 

Maiolo, De, hydrographer, 16th cent., 331 

Maitland, Sir Anthony, 108 

■ SirThomas,43,49,359,362,487 

Majella, monte, 38 

Majerdah filling up, 93 

Majorca, 10, 292, 298 

Makri, gulf of, 78 

Malaccia, old term for calm, 247 

Malaga, 6 

Malamocco breaks the current, 135 

Malaria, 225 to 229 

Maiden, Lieutenant, 109, 383 

Malea, cape, 48 

Maleca, cape, Candia, 68 

Maledetto levante rather S.E., 249 

Malta island, 32 

and Gozo, tables, 102 

climate, 250 

longitude, 418 

Malte Brun on the Mediterranean, 354 

Mamatili, or maestrale, 250 

Mamertinum fretum, 163 

Mandeliyah, gulf of, 67 

Mandili, cape, 63 

Mandri, port, 63 

Map of Ptolemy, 320 

Mappa mondo of Mauro, 326 

Maraldi on the Mediterranean, 153 

Marathonisi, 55 

Marathon, plain, 63 

Marcet on sea- water, 127, 132 

Mare grosso at Messina, 179 

Maremme, 22 

Mare-moto, or sea-quake, 106 



INDEX. 



511 



Mareotig lake, 85 

Maretimo, land-fall, 32, 355 

Marine zoology by Aristotle, 198 

Marino Sanuto, 327 

Marinus of Tyre, 321 

Mariotte on the intensity of wind, 291 

Mark, St., 52 

Market prices, 103 

Marmarica claimed by Egypt, 84 

Marmericheh, excellent, 351 

Marmora, sea of, 74, 167 

Marmorice, Mermericheh, 78 

Marobia, confused sea, 164 

Marsa Scirocco reef, 335 

Marseilles, 15, 395 

Marshes, Pontine, 24 

Marsigli on the Danube, 152 

on the height of waves, 242 

Martial on frost, 223 

Martiguez, lagoon, 15 

Martines, hydrographer, 16th century, 331 

Martyn, Prof., on the Lauras, 221 

Massacre of the Scians, 72 

Massey's sounding machine, 390 

Massiha, solstice at, 319 

Matafuz, cape in Algeria, 95, 336 

Matapan, cape, 59 

Mataro, populous town, 10 

Mathematics of the ancients, 320 

Maura, Sta., 44 

Maury's Winds and Currents, 427 

Mazzara, site of the Marobia, 164 

Mavro Nisi, by Chabert, 346 

Meander indicted, 73 

Meat will not salt in a scirocco. 252 

Mediaeval commerce, 3 

opinions, 325 

Medina Sidonia, mounts, 235 
Mediterranean, its character, Intr. 

its importance, 2 

how formed, 114 

■ tides, 172 

fogs, 290 

rescued from gross errors, 

405 ^ 
Meganisi, Ionian islands, 54 
Meis, Pashalik of, 79 
Meliala, mount, 52 
Melilah fortress, 97 
Melina, or Medinah-Dugha, 486 
Melita Africana, 33 
Melpomene of Herodotus, 148 
Mercator's increase of latitude, 337 
Meridian traced by Eratosthenes, 319 ■ 

of the Arabians, 327 

Mermericheh, Marmorice, 78 
Mesratah, 87 

entrance to the Syrtes, 190 

Messina, 30 

beaches, 142 

currents, 163 



Messina, Faro of, 398 

Meswres Itin. in Strabo, 324 

Metals and Marbles, 428 

Meteorology, 210, 215, 391 

Meton's latitude of Athens, 319 

Miasma, 226 

Michael Angelo, 23 

Michelot, Pilote Hauturier, 341 

Middle Ages, § 2, 325 

Migratory fishes, 197 

Miletus, the sea receding, 73 

Miller, Professor, on barometers, 212 

Millo, 68 islands, 16th century, 331 

Milo, one of the Cyclades, 69 

Minasi on mirage, 290 

Minoa isle is lost, 73 

Minorca, 10, 12 

Minos active against pirates, 313 

Miquelon now inland, 13 

Mirage described, 288 

Mirror of Navigation, 343 

Miscellanea Curiosa, 145 

Miseno, cape, 25 

Missolunghi, 50 

Mistra, 60 

Mistral, or Bize, 245 

Modern operations, 336 

Modi, 55 

Modon, 58 

Mohaderah port, 86 

Mokrl, 55 

Mola di Gaeta, 25 

MoUusks, list of, 205 

Monaco, 19 

Monde Aquatique, by Peter Goos, 339 

Moneglia, 20 

Monembasia, 61 

Monsoons of the Levant, 271 

Montagu shoal, C. Chiarenza, 333 

Montanari on currents, 170 

Monte Christo, 22 

Cuculi sunk by a bora, 256 

Santo, Archipelago, 65 

Scopo, 55 

Monteith on boiling water, 153, 281 
Montenegro limestone, 43 

cloudless thunder, 260 

Montenero, its height, 54 
Monthly temperature, 216 
Montpellier, 14 

Moon, why powerless in the Mediter- 
ranean, 173 
Moon's irradiation deceptive, 382 
Moorish names in Spain, 406 
Moors, their conduct, 99 
Morea, 52 

its products, 57 

climate of the, 262 

survey of, 402 

Morena Sierra, de, 8 
' Morgian la Fay,' 289 



512 



INDEX. 



Morlachian shores, 40 
Morocco, empire of, 95, 99, 301, 405 
Morozzo on the Adriatic, 153 
Moses quoted by Dr. Clarke, 282 

■ laid down boundaries, 312 

Mostaza port, 98 
Mountains in Spain, 4 
Mountain gusts, 297 

of salt, reported, 488 

Mourmaki rocks, 59 

Mourtzo, 49 

Mousa, Jebel, 99 

Moxacar, Spain, 6 

Mugghito in the Corfu channel, 261 

Muluwi river bounds Algeria, 96 

Murad Reis, a Scotchman, 88 

Murat, defence of Sicily against, 354 

Murcia, population, 8 

Murviedro, beauty of, 8 

Myconi isle, 70 

Mytiline isle, 71 

Nahr-el-'A'si river, 82 
Naples, coast of, 24 

Calabria, by Zannoni, 348 

gulf of, 396 

east coast, 400 

Napoli di Romania, 61 
Narbonne, 14 
Natolica, 50 
Nauplia, gulf of, 61 
Naupactus, etymology of, 411 
Naussa, port of Paros, 70 
Nautical survey, the first, 314 
Nautilus rock, Cerigotto, 333 
Naval health in Mediterranean, 230 
Navarino, harbour of, 58 
Navigation, its origin, 2 

'< of the Archipelago, 72 

of the Faro, 180 

Navy of Algiers, 94 

Naxia, or Axia, 69 
N.C.A.P.R, 428 
Neapolitan staff-officers, 363 
Nearchus, Admiral, 316 
Negro, cape, 98 
Negropont island, 63 

how derived, 410 

Nelson in the Faro, 180 

in the Gulf of Lyons, 242 

at Madalena, 335 



Neptune presided over Mediterranean, 429 
Nerita shoal alluded to, 112 
Nettuno, port, 24 
Newton unveiled tides, 174 
Newtonian answer to paradox, 173 
Nicaria isle, 71 
Nice, port of, 19 

the climate, 246 

and Spezzia, divisions, 423 

Nicolas, Captain, on a rock, 332 
Nicopolis, 49 



Nile, its alluvion, 85 

■ it rises to 23 feet, 169 

of Herodotus, 488 

Nio isle, 70 

Nomenclature adopted, 406 
Northers disastrous, 273 
Notus, or south wind, 280 
Novigradi, 41 

Oars, 273 

Ocean described by Abu Zeid, 118 

Ocrida Lake, 45 

Odyssey quoted on winds, 277 

OEniadse not traceable, 415 

GCta, mount, 64 

Officers of the Aid and Adventure, 375 

Ogliastro, 29 

Ogygian deluge in Archipelago, 74, 118 

Omar-el- Aalem on tides, 138 

Ombrone, 22 

Opening a road into Africa, 481 

Opus, fort, 42 

Orca seen by Pliny, 196 

Origin of the Mediterranean, 114 

Oristano, 29 

Orloff, Count, 228 

Ornithii, winds brought birds, 272 

Oros Troados in Cyprus, 83 

Orthography adopted, 406 

Osero, fossil bones, 41 

Osiris and Typhon, their strife, 88 

Ostia, port of, 23 

Otranto, 35 

Ouragans, or violent storms, 246 

Overfalls thought shoals, 500 

Ovid on Bura, 52 

on the Syrtis, 122 

alludes to the glass orb, 317 

Oxoi, 55 

Padua, 47 

Psestum temples, 26 

Pago isle, 41 

Palseopoli, vestiges of, 57 

Palamides, mount, 61 

Palamos, good roadstead, 10 

a rock in, 333 

Palaesti, 46 

Paleassa or Palseste, 46 
Paleo Avarino, peninsula, 58 
Palermo in Sicily, 30, 46 

and its environs, 397 

position by Piazzi, 417 

Palestine, its inland traffic, 310 
Pallas, Professor, quoted, 107* 138 
Palmarola isle, 25 
Palus Maeotis, 2 
Panaria, 31, 143 
Pantano, near Alicant, 7 
Pantellaria isle, 32, 392, 399 
Papal States, 400 



INDEX. 



513 



Papas, Cape, 57 

Paradox of rocks growing, 387 

Paraetonium, ancient port, 86 

Parallel of latitude by Eratosthenes, 319 

Parasanga, or Fursung, 326 

Parenzo, 39 

Parga, cession of, 49 

Parnassus, 51 

Paris level for barometer, 214 

Paros isle, 69 

Parthian struck on an old shoal, 335 

Patella shoal off Prevesa, 333 

Patent log runs by boats, 362 

Patino, or Patmos, 71 

Patras, 57, 184 

Patroclus, Admiral, 316 

Patton, experiment in the strait, 156 

Pausanias on Bura, 52 

on Chrysae, 73 

quoted on springs, 142 

a topographer, 315 

Paxo, 52 

Pegola Mount, 45 

Pelagossa, Adriatic, 44 

Pelago, 64 

Pelagie islands, 137 

Pellew, Sir E., watered at Ehone, 243 

Pelion, Mount, 64 

Penetration of light, 192 

Penon de Velez islet, 98 

Penrose, Admiral, in the Faro, 181 

Sir C. V., on Capt. Gauttier, 419 

Pentapolis, its ports, 87 

Percolation very great, 142 

Periodical breezes in the Levant, 282 

Periplus by Scylax, 315 

Periphery of the Mediterranean, 99 

Permanent conductors, 309 

Perpetual congelation, 232 

Pesaro, 37 

Pestilential air, Oristano, 29 

Petalio isles, 64 

Peter's, St., lofty cross, 23 

Peter Gower, or Pythagoras, 443 

Petrified beach noticed by Beaufort, 81 

city of Nardoun, 484 

Petrovitz, clan of, 43 
Peutingerian Table, 323 
Phaeton fired by lightning, 303 
Phanari, 49 

Pharos island now on the main, 85 
Philaeni, their altar, 89, 494 
Philemon, Holland, 88 
Phineka, Cape, 81 
Phlegrsean zone, 106 
Phoenicians early merchants, 310 
Pharnix, privateer at Gibraltar, 154 

frigate wrecked, 274 

Pholoe, Mount, 58 
Phosphorescence of sea water, Vll 
Physics of the Mediterranean, 132 



Pianosa Isle, 22 

Piazza San Marco afloat, 183 

Piazzi, his register of weather, 215 

on position of Palermo, 415 

on longitude of Palermo, 417 

Pidavro, 62 

Pieria, Mount, its height, 81 

Pietro, San, isle, 29 

Pigafitta, comp. of Magellan, 338 

Pillars of Hercules, 311 

Pineto, forest of pines, 47 

Pinna Marina shoal alluded to, 112 

Piombino, 21 

Piperi, 64 

Pique cut away her masts, 284 

Piraeus, changes of name, 411 

Pirano, 39 

Pirates haunted the Archipelago, 313 

Pisa, proverb, 21 

Pizzigani, the brothers, 328 

Pityusae, 11, 12 

Placca, La, at St. Maura, 53 

Plague or pestilence, 227 

Planca, point, 44 

Plata, Cape La, near Gibraltar, 160 

Plessidi, Mount, 64 

Pliny translated by P. Holland, 88 

quoted on percolation, 142 

on tides, 174 

on the Syrtes, 188 

1. De Nat. Caeli and Arbores, 221 

2. On temperature, 221 

■ On water spouts, 265 

quoted on electric omens, 268 

theory on the sun's heat, 271 

on the dew-point, 293 

' Plumbeus auster' of Horace, 249 
Po, its mouths, 37, 135 

the rex fluviorum, 144 

Pola, 39 

Polesino lies low, 38 

Policastro, 25 

Poliorcetes on sea levels, 152 

Polybius on the Euxine, 78 

on Carthagena, 177 

soldier, historian, and geogra- 
pher, 324 

Porno islet, Adriatic, 44, 335 
Pompeia, 26 
Pondico, 55 
Pontine marshes, 24 
Ponza islands, 25, 396 
Population of Spain, 8 

of Baleares, 1 1 

of Italy, 18 

of Hydra, 62 

Porquerolles rocks, 16 
Poro, rock of, 61 

Porto Franco, Leghorn, 21 

Vecchio in Corsica, 29 

Vitylo, 59 



L L 



514 



INDEX. 



Porto Kalo or Quaglio, 60 

Leone, 62, 409 

Portolani in the British Museum, 329 
Ports of Spain, 6 

of Istria, 39 

small, near Tripoli, 89 

of Algeria, 95 

Posidonius measured an arc, 174 
Potash detected in sea water, 132 
Potier, Baron, on Adriatic, 362, 365 
Pozzuoli, changes at, 27 
Precautions against malaria, 225 

against the bora, 256 

against water-spouts, 265 

against lightning, 304 

Pressure of sea water, 133, 193 
Prester of the Greeks, 264 

Pre visa, 49 

Prices of food, 103 

Prina, geographical engineer, 363 

Prinkipos or Princes Island, 74 

Procida, isle of, 25 

Prodano, coast isle, 58 

Produce of Spain, 5 and 6 

of Barcelona, 9 

around Toulon, 16 

of Sicily, 30 

of Apulia, 37 

- of Istria, 39 

of Dalmatia, 42 

of the Archipelago, 72 

of Tunis, 92 

of Algeria, 94 

of Morocco, 96 



Productiveness offish, 194 
Prognoses of weather, 126, 237, 277 
Projection by Ptolemy, 320 
Promontore, cape, 40 
Proofs of the tide's uses, 175 
Propertius alludes to globes, 318 
Protrusion of volcanic islets, 111 
Provati, 55 

Provencal couplet on the Bize, 245 
Proverb at Nice, 246 
Psitoriti, Mount Ida, 67 
Ptolemy on Adriatic, 35 

Katabathmos, 86 

■ distorted Mediterranean, 139 

on latitudes and longitudes, 320 

Pulo, its meaning in Greek, 69 
Pyramids marking the Points, 365 
Pyrenees, length of chain, 10 
Pythagoras' notions still tenable, 122 
Pytheas studied tides, 174 

surveyed Lipara, 319 

Pyrgo, 58 
Pyrnatya, 59 

Quakneeo, channels of the, 40 

subject to squalls, 254 

Quarter Waggoner, 343 



Queen turned round in the Faro, 181 

■ of Naples in a scirocco, 253 

struck by lightning, 304 

Quintant, 9 -inch, and horizon, 381 
Quixote, Don, on Spanish, 407 

Raffiche, mountain gusts, 248, 261 

Rageas, gusts of wind, 284 

Raggiature, or land squalls, 247 

Pagosniza, good port, 42 

Pagusa, 41 

Pain, its amount in the Mediterranean, 149 

annual fall of, 217 

essential to harvests, 295 

Rampinu, or land wind, 249 

Rapallo, 20 

Raper on tides, 174 

symbols, 427 

Raphti, port, 63, 41 1 

Ras-al-Kana'is, in Egypt, 84 

Ras-el-Hilat, near Cyrene, 87 

Ras-er-Tyn, Cape Fig, 85 

Raven lost on Cape Granitola, 164 

Ravenna now inland, 47 

Receding sea in Archipelago, 73 

Re-examinations by the author, 354 

Refluo, or refolo, in the Faro, 179 

Reggio, 26 

Rhone, mouth of the, 394 

Reid, Sir W., governor of Malta, 243 

Reiner, the pilot, 175 

Relative heights of seas, 152 

longitudes, 383 

Rendina, or Contessa, 65 

Rennell, Major, quoted, 88, 158, 324 

Renouard, Rev. G. C, on Arab names, 412 

Re, Porto, 40 

Respiratory organs of fishes, 195 

Responsibility of officers, 229 

Rhodes in 1530, 32 

Rhone, the, 14 

Rimbombi of volcanoes, 110 

Rimini, 37 

Risso on the surf, 163 

on the Pomatomus telescopus, 193 

Rivers flowing into Mediterranean, 140, 150 
Road into Africa, 473 to 497 
Rock reported off Santa Maura, 109 

90 miles east of Malta, 121 

off Cape de Gata, 332 

Rochon's micrometer applied, 379 
Rodney, the, suffered off Toulon, 244 
Roger II., circular silver table, 326 
Roman coast, 23 

climate, 221 

surveys, 317 

Romans, modern inferior to ancient, 223 

Romney Marsh, alluvion, 88 

Rosetta, 84 

Rossel, Admiral de, 368 

Rotation requisite in a storm, 264 






INDEX. 



515 



Rotatory symptoms, 243 

Roumili Castle, 51, 75 

Roum, name of Mediterranean, 117 

Rovigno, 39 

Howe's Lucan quoted, 190 

Ruad islet, a fresh spring, 111 

Rufela, river of the Morea, 58 

Ruins of Carthage, 92 

Rumford on heated fluids, 158 

Rupina, port, 60 

Ryves, Captain, G. F., 335 

Sabioxcello, near the Narenta, 42 
Sabrina isle thrown up, 111 
Sacred Scriptures referred to, 281 
Sacrum Prom., St. Vincent, 323 
Sagra, Isola, 23 
Saint Angelo, or Kavo Malea, 60 

Elias Mount, or Makryno, 59 

Elmo's fire, or campazant, 267 

Irene, or Santorini, 70 

John's day usually fresh, 286 

Sala brenna, Spain, 6 
Salambria, the Peneus, 64 
Salanta, channel, 64 

Salazar's chronometric runs, 349 
Salerno, bay of, 26 
Salina, isle, 31 
Salona, Greece, 51 

town, 42 

Salonica, gulf of, 64 

Salt very good in Istria, 40 

how made in Barbary, 495 

Saltness of sea- water, 127 
Samana Point, 45 

Samiel, or Scirocco, 251 
Samos isle, 71 

Samothracian deluge, 74, 119 
Samun wind, 286 
San Dimitri, Cape, 64 

Giovanni, Port, 49 

Lucar shoals, 234 

Martino, Cape, change of wind, 239 

Pietro, and St. Nicola, 267 

Sands, moving, of Shur, 83 
Sanj^k Burnu, 414 

Sansego, fossil bones, 41 
Santorini isle, St. Irene, 70 
Sapienza, island, 58 
Sarah, or Mirage, 288 
Saracenic ruins, Asia Minor, 80 
Sarakino, or Peristeri, 64 
Sarundi, Port, 51 
Sardinia, 28 

a pelagic island, 137 



— its meteorology, 215, 249 
general chart, 396 



Sardinian dominions, 12 sheets, 346 
Sarmatian vessel, 118 
Saros, or Samothrace, 65 
29 



Sasseno isle, 46 

Satan's current, 75 and 167 

Savona, 19 

Scala, or loading place, 6Q 

■ Nova, 67 

Scalona, Ascalon, 82 

Scaletta in Sicily, 31 

Scardo isle, Adriatic, 44 

Scardona, 41 

Scarpanto island, 68 

Schiron, or north-west wind, 279 

hurricane, 274 

Sciacca, its beach, 31 
Sciarazza cove, 110 
Science of geography, 319 
Scio isle, 71 

Scipio at Carthagena, 177 
Scirocco, samiel of Egypt, 251 

dust, 293 

at Tunis, 296 

Scombrera, rocky island, 177 
Scropho, port, 50 
Scriptural allusions, 285 
Scutari, 45 

or Uskrudar, 75 

Scylax quoted, 29 

on Malta, 33 

on the Adriatic, 48 

his Periplus, 315 

Scyila, 178 

Scymnus Chius, 48 

Sea level steady, 144, 391 

water weighed, 157 

motions or currents, 162 

breezes, 282 

of Marmora, 2 and 74 

funnel in the Black Sea, 113 

pressure, 133 

of Damascus, 326 

Seanghero, 64 
Seasons at Algiers, 297 

influence the wind, 283 

personified at Athens, 279 

Sebenico, town of, 42 
Sebenzanas, or Boras, 255 
Secondary geological effects, 114 
Segna, once a harbour, 40 
Seneca, Nat. quaxst., 246 
Septinsular domain, 48 
Serpent's isle, Black Sea, 76 
Sestri di Levante, 20 

Sets of currents, 162 

Seville, city of, 8 

Sfakus, opulent and beautiful, !»1 

Shallow water feels wind most, 171 

Shallows in the Syrtes, 91 

Shipping laws, 276 

Ships struck by lightning, 305 — 7 

Shoals of San Lucar, 234 

disappear from charts, 332 

Shores of France, 1 3 



516 



INDEX. 



Spur, or Al JofiCr, 83 

Sicie, Cape, well known, 15 

Sicilian coast, 30 

Sicilian weather, 249 

Sicilie, le due, by Zannoni, 348 

Sicily, meteorology of, 215 

mirage, 290 

Sierra Morena, 8 

Sierra Leone, rain there, 217 

Sidereal occupations abandoned, 382 

Sidi Achmet Bey, 481 

Sidi Mahomet at Tripoli, 482 

Sieberfelt a mare moto, 109 

Siffanto, or south-west, violent, 254 

Sigeum Prom., 65 

Silphium, the valuable shrub, 494 

Silt, deposits of, 9, 113 

Sinope, a volcano near it, 113 

Siphanto isle, 70 

Skala Rufeia, 58 

Skerki reef doubted, 93 

rocks, 136 

Skhiza, or Cabrera, island, 58 

Skiatho, 64 

Skopelo, 64 

Skyllo, cape, 62 

Skyro island, 64 

Slave trade with the interior, 485 

Sleep renders liable to malaria, 227 

Smith, Sir Sidney, 78 

Smith, Dr., on the Mediterranean, 154 

Smyrna, third city in Turkey, 66 

tides, 186 

Socrates humbled Alcibiades, 314 
Snow and ice in ancient Rome, 222 
Soil of Hydra, thin, 62 
Solano, its effects, 28th March, 236 
Soldan, Captain, assisted in GTeodesy, 383 
Solomon on the north wind, 285 

meteorology, 286, 288 

Sonnini on deep soundings, 120 
Sorelle rocks off Galita, 334 
Sotta isle, Adriatic, 44 
Soundings to unusual depths, 387 
South wind strong only in winter, 248 
Spain, 3 

surveys of its coasts, 394 

Spalatro, city of, 42 
Spanish produce, 6 

Portolani, 330 

surveyors, 349 

loss at Trafalgar, 350 

Spartel, Cape, 5, 99 

Spartivento, Cape, 25, 35 

Specific gravity of sea water, 124, 131 

Specchio del Mare, 339 

Species of fishes, how distributed, 195 

Spelzia, island, 61 

Spezzia, springs in the sea, 141 

gulf of, 20, 395 

Sphagia, isle, 58 



Spina, 47 

Sporades of the Archipelago, 69 

S. P. Q.R., 428 

Springs rising in the Mediterranean, 140 

Squalls, sudden, 275 

Stability of weather explained, 218 

of the Mediterranean, 191 

Stadia, various, 323 
Stagnevitch, Convent, 43 
Stambul of the Turks, 75 
Stampalia isle, 70 
Stamphane', or Strivali, 56, 140 
Statistics of Spain, 8 

of Italy, 18 

Statistical Table, 101 
Stewart's, Captain, rule, 275 
Stormy season, 275 
Storm presaged, 300 
Strabo on the Pityusse, 11 

on Adriatic, 34 

on the Meander, 73 

preserves Strato, 74 

on earthquakes, 110 

a philosophical geographer, 321 

on geology, 191 

on the site of Rome, 224 

Strait of Gibraltar, 2, 119, 236 

intercepts lunar effect, 173 

— of Bonifacio, 396 

Strato of Lampsacus, 74, 122 
Streams, their scooping action, 114 
Stromboli, 31, 110 
Styli, Romaic, for columns, 409 
Subaerial volcanoes, 111 
Subaqueous volcanoes, 111 
Subdivisions of the Mediterranean, 123 
Submarine volcanoes, 111 

plateau, Skerki, 137 

Submerged buildings, 104 
Submersion of the iEgean, 73 
Suli, 49 

Sulla, Maltese fodder, 33 
Superficies of Mediterranean, 140 
Surface temperature, 125 

drift at Bonifacio, 162 

Survey of Spain good, 349 

how planned, 361 

Surveys catalogued, 393 

— — — too extensive for delicacy, 405 

Sussex, Duke of, 35, 498 

Swa'idiyah, 82 

Swaine, Captain, wrecked, 164 

Sybota isle, 49 

Symbols of the ancients, 429 

Symi, gulf of, 78 

Sympiesometer oscillations, 214 

Syra isle, 70 

Syracuse and its environs, 399 

Syria, extent of its coast, 81 

has a fine climate, 283 

Syrian sea, Eastern Mediterranean, 116 



INDEX. 



517 



Syrian shore has encroached, 170 
Syrates, two great gulfs, 88 
Syrtis, the greater, 87 

little, 90 

lesser, its tides, 187 

the greater, much feared, 188 

Tabakkah sheltered by an islet, 93 
Table of tides at Venice, 183 
of comparative latitude and longi- 
tude, 325 
Tabulated points, 416 
Taganrog, 77, 281 
Takhtalu peak, 78 
Tangier anchorage, 99 
Tarabolus, Tripoli, 82 
Taranto, Gulf of, 36 

springs in the sea, 141 

Tarifa, island of, 4 

depth of water, 128 

Tarsus or Tersus, 79 

Tasso isle, or Thasos, 65 

Taurus influences the wind, 283 

Tchesme" endured a violent plague, 228 

Tebruk harbour, important, 86 

Tekkiyeh of the Dervishes, 278 

Telamone, port, 21 

Telethrius, mount, 64 

Temperature of the Mediterranean, 124 

for grapes and dates, 218 

■ of Egina, 271 

most equable near the sea, 233 

at great depths, 388 

Temple of Sunium, 63 
Tenedos, 66 

Tennant on sea water, 127 
Teonge's amusing diary, 343 
Terracina, 24 
Terranova in Sardinia, 29 
Tersus-chai river, 79 
Testacea, list of the principal, 205 
Tetuan bay, 98 

Thales on earth's sphericity, 314 
Thames compared with other rivers, 146 
Thau, bring lagoon, 141 
Theodolite, its value, 383 
Theodosian map, 323 
Theotoki on Etesian winds, 271 
Thermometers, 214 
Thermometer in the sun wrong, 217 
Thermopylae, pass of, 64 
Thisbe shoal well searched for, 388 
Thracian Bosphorus, 75, 167 
Thucydides on Adriatic, 34 
on the Faro, 181 



- on Krystallos, 269 
on geography, 313 



Thunder, strange, in Montenegro, 260 
Tiber, 23, 26 

never frozen now, 222 

Tidal reflux at Gibraltar, 161 



Tide treated by Omar, 138 

of the Mediterranean, 171 

at Gibraltar, 174 

hour at Cadiz, 174 

on the Spanish coast, 1 76 

■ ■ at Carthagena, 177 

on French and Italian shores, 178 

in the Faro, 179 

table at Venice, 183 

two daily, not equal, 183 

Tide- wave differs from wind- wave, 171 

Timarchus of Sicyon, 51 

Timosthenes an admiral, 315 

Tineh, El Arish, 83 

Tipton, John, Consul, 3 

Toaldo on iEstu Maris Veneti, 182 

Toberathi, the, 45 

Tofirio examined the currents, 156 

Atlas Maritimo, 349 

Tolmezzo, mean rain, 217 
Tolometa, rich in ruins, 494 
Tombuctoo, best route to, 485 
Tonnara at Pola, 40 
Topi islet has a danger, 336 
Tornese, Cape, 57 
Torricellian tube, 172 
Toulon, 15 

and adjacent coast, 395 

Tourville, Chevalier de, 340 
Tower of the winds in Athens, 278 
Towns in Regency of Tunis, 91 
Trachytic rocks, 71 
Trade in the Black Sea, 77 

of Egypt, 84 

Trading ports of Apulia, 37 
Trafalgar, Cape, 4, 407 
Traffic in Barbary, 492 
Trajan's marine works, 23 
Tramontanas, 273 
Transit Telescope, by Breguet, 380 
Trau, near Bua isle, 42 
Travellers' corrupt names, 412 
Travelling in Barbary, 491 
Travels of Strabo, 322 
Treatment of Compasses, 385 
Tremiti, Isles of, 37 

Zodiacal light, 295 

Tres-forcas Cape, 97 

Triangulation of the Archipelago, 366 

Trichias mentioned by Aristotle, 48 

Trieste, 38 

Triglia shoal alluded to, 112 

Trikhiri, channel, 63 

Trinacria, name of Sicily, 30 

Trinisi islets, 60 

Trinita, Prom. La Sta., 25 

Tripoli in Barbary, 89, 404 

gale there, 188 

Tripoline ships wrecked, 302 
Trireme galleys, 312 
Tristomo port, 79 



518 



INDEX. 



Troglodytes in Barbary, 497 
Tropic of Capricorn, 288 
Troughton's Circle, when used, 381 
Troy, plain of, 65 
Turkish 64 wrecked, 273 

fleet wrecked, 287 

Tunis, coast of, 91 

survey of, 404 

Tunisian climate, 295 

fleet wrecked, 297 

Tuscany, 21 

Typhoons or whirlwinds, 263 

Tyrant of the Straits, or Levanter, 236 

Tyre, its great riches, 92, 311 

Tyrrhenian sea when agitated, 246 

Undaunted frigate saved the barge, 236 
Under-current at Gibraltar, 130, 153 
United Service Journal on Plague, (see 

Nos. 49 and 51,) 228 
Universal History on Lakes, 119 
Universal solar dial, 384 
Up-heaved shoals, 388 
Ustica island, 32 
Utile foundered in 1801, 302 

Vada, 21 

Vado shoal, Tuscan coast, 333 

Val di Boppa, ancient port, 53 

Valencia, 7 

Valetta and its fortifications, 399 

Valona, 45, 46 

Vanguard, gale in the Gulf of Lyons, 

242 
Vapour collected, then dissipated, 235 
Var, river, 13 
Varano, Lake of, 37 
Variable weather in the Levant, 282 
Variation of the Compass, 384 
Varro on malaria, 224 
Vasili-potam<5, or Eurotas, 60 
Vathi, deep port, 55 
Vatica, Bay of, 60 
Vegetius a sort of engineer, 318 
Veglia, 41 

Velanidi, export from Agio Strati, 66 
Velocity of current at Gibraltar, 130, 160 
Velox, Austrian brig, 363 
Vendre, Port, 14 

Venetian seasons for navigating, 255 
Venetico, Isle of, 59 
Venice, Gulf of, 35, 38, 400 

city of the sea, 165 

slight tide, 182 

fall of rain, 218 

Venice hidden by fog, 291 
Vent de cers in Languedoc, 246 
Venti somniculares, 271 

stati, see Bacon, 272 

Vesuvius, height of, 25 

Via Beggio, 21 



Villafranca, 19, 395 
Virgil quoted, 93 

on' the Galesus, 222 

Virgil's rusty sun, 290 

Visconti, General, 18 

Visconti's longitudes compared, 369 

intended chart, 371 

on Palermo longitude, 418 

Vitelli and Benaglio, on Adriatic, 338 
Vitruvius gave twenty-four winds, 278 
Vladika, Prince Bishop, 43 
Voiding Mount, 57 

Volcanic mass at Modon, 60 
Volcanic zone, 106 

spring at Panarla, 143 

Volcanoes, interrupted action, 109 

■ under water, 499 

Volo, gulf of, 63, 185 
Volsci, their territory, 24 
Von Buch on volcanoes, 111 
Vonitsa, 49 
Vostitsa, 52 
Vulcanian group, 31 

Walcheken, its malaria, 228 
Walker, Messrs., Hydrographic Office, 355 
Walton, his laconic despatch, 180 
Water-bottle made by Jones, 129 

boiling, temperature of, 153 

gazing tube, 379 

spouts in Ionian sea, 263 

how formed, 265 

Watershed, a poor term, 174 
Weather indications, 277, 301 

in Black Sea, 77 

wise, essential to be, 211 

in various parts, 215 

tables, 216 

within the Straits, 237 

Weighing sections of a chart, 148 
Wellington schooner, 482 
Wemyss, Captain, lost, 275 
Western Italy, 17 

Greece, 48, 51 

division of Mediterranean, 231 

Whales occasional in Mediterranean, 196 
Wind-wave differs from tide-wave, 171 
Winds, their effect on water, 145 

tides, 183 

outside the Strait, 234 

in the Egean, 277 

Winter in the Archipelago, 274 
Wollaston on sea-water, 128, 160 

dip-sector imitated, 382 

Wreck of Arabian ship, 117 
Wrecks and shoals in the Syrtis, 190 
Wright's meridian parts, 338 
Wyld on Albania, 1673, 342 

Xanthus, an able geologist, 122 
Xenophon a geographer, 315 



J 



INDEX. 



519 



Xerxes on Mount Athos, 65 
his fleet, 273 

Ydhra, or Hydra, 61 
Yedf-Burun, or Seven Capes, 78 
Yussuf Basha powerful, 88, 487 

Zach, Baron de, 347 

on the Mediterranean, 355 

• on chronoraetric runs, 418 

Correspondance Astronomique, 418 

Marshal, at Trieste, 363 

Zagora, Mount, 51 

Zannoni Rizzi, 348 

Zannoni's Faro of Messina, 356 

Zante, 52, 55 



Zaphran isles, 97 

Zara, 41 

Zarethra described by Leake, 142 

Zawafnir isles, 93 

Zebra stranded at Acre, 284 

Zembra isles, 93 

L'Aigle lost on, 296 

Zephyrus variously described, 277 

Zeuxis of Sicyon, 51 

Zituni, bay of, 63 

Zoara, salterns of, 90 

Zodiacal light, 295 

Zones of fishes in the sea, 195 

Zuca, lake, has disappeared, 89 

Zuri isle, Adriatic, 44 



THE END. 



LONDON : 

SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, 

COVENT GARDEN. 



m 



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